


Ruins of Death (Cryaotic)

by AttackOnDrunkCry



Category: ChaoticMonki, Cry (Youtuber), Cry - Fandom, Cryaotic (Youtuber), cryaotic, youtube - Fandom
Genre: AU, Action, Dystopian, F/M, Fan-fiction, Fiction, Love, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-04 19:57:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5346653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackOnDrunkCry/pseuds/AttackOnDrunkCry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>World in Order (W.I.O) is a dictatorship form of government that has taken over the world. In the dark year of 2015, new rules have been applied, along with the sickening disease that had spread throughout the nation.</p><p> The world has been divided into separate zones for essential safety and W.I.O. protection. With the cure unknown, the infection is common and merges easily into victims' veins, turning them into a dreadful, horrifying monster—that is if you aren't lucky. </p><p>Volunteered guards bravely participate in shielding the fences from danger and monsters, but the nightmare isn't even unraveling yet.</p><p>Cassandra Owens is a twenty-four year old woman; strong, intelligent, yet cowardly of the dark reality. She is one of the test subjects assigned to the deadliest observation, being one of the participants to reach the highest IQ.</p><p> But when it's her turn, her introduction to horror and bloodshed is interrupted by one Red Soldier, the troopers who guard the gates. He rescues her from death and takes her to their camp, where her destined opportunity to life lays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Things to Know Before You Read This Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I tell you how I wrote this book, how the writing is like, why certain things may happen, and YOU, yes YOU, my dear reader, will not question some parts of this story (Unless you think my story sucks. Reasonable enough, I believe.)

You may notice after reading the first three chapters that there is a major decrease in detail in the writing. That's because my sister and I were writing the story and she grew out of Cry. I was probably like 10 or so at the time when I wrote with her. She wrote the detail, I wrote the dialogue. So I sucked. Then, we quit the project unintentionally (We just stopped doing it and forgot about it). I came back to it a year later and her not interested so I wrote the chapters myself. They are far less detailed (the ones I thought were boring and uninteresting because it began to feel like a load of laundry on my shoulders) and the ones with action are usually extremely detailed. Usually. (Because Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children had so much detail it almost rubbed off on me.) 

Also, this book, since I've started it when I was 10, isn't very logical in some parts because I don't really think it through. Or, I realized the plot holes in some parts and tried to fix it up without thoroughly thinking it out.

As the story progresses, I'm hoping you'll see the detail from chapter four improve. Since when I was 10 I didn't really have a love of help in writing because 1. my fourth grade teacher was more focused on math, 2. my fifth grade teacher wasn't a good teacher (she was a substitute for the original teacher), so we got a new teacher (Also yes, go laugh it off, tease me, berate me with your insults. I'm a typical little girl writing fan fiction. I'm sorry that I cannot help my young age.

My sister and I originally had worked on this project on Wattpad, but we soon abandoned it. We began working on this somewhere in April 2014, where the setting of this story takes place in 2015. I had planned to publish this book before the end of 2014, but it was too late. (Plus, 6 months to finish what I hope is a fifty chapter book? Haha, impossible, 10 year old self.)

As we had planned the story, I have read chapter 1 again and look for the character's personality. But, as I read through, I see that these characters are definitely out of character. I have tried to fix that mistake, researching each youtuber. But I do not know how these characters would act in such a world like this. Some youtubers, I do not watch often, they will most likely be WAY out of character (Like TheRPGMinx). This story may act a little like 'The Last of Us', and I will have occasional writer's block.

 

Hey and, constructive criticism IS, IS, IS definitely needed. c: Don't insult it though. I mean, if you don't like it then, yeah, you can say you don't like it . . .  
But downright saying show shitty it is and questioning people's sanity of why they like the book is just insulting.

BUT PLEASE.

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! I love to hear your tips! PM me maybe! That would be helpful!


	2. Subject

Chapter 1  
Black soot and dust stained the murky chamber, the walls dripping with ash. The wind hit my face ever so lightly, and the ceiling bars illuminated a small glow of light to the room. Blood soiled the tile iron floor, and as I sat there on the wooden chair, I waited for my inevitable death, my fists clenching on the metal table. A lamp stood above my head like a halo of fire ringed around my hair. 

All of these freaking experiments, all of these stupid tests, made me want to throw up my fear that had been sucking up my throat. My eyes barely moved, like they were black voids of darkness that drilled into the mucky floor. I wasn't afraid to admit it, I was such a coward about this horrifying world today. World in Order killed my family, my friends, and my enemies, a thought that made me want to rip my hair out from every second I thought about the threats they made. The gory knives they plunged into their feeble bodies. Their eyes filled with horror and fear. Screams like a blood-curdling shriek for death.

. . .

I wish Bella were here.

My nails clawed into my sweaty palms deeper, the pain gnawing at my nerves. A heavy echo of screeches boomed throughout the hallway, then a faint thud. Seventeen. 

 

They've killed seventeen living souls so far. I've been used to those horrible roars of begging. Guilt washed over me as I ignored it. A few more alarming screams, and then it's my turn. To die, of course. Then, a tangled ball of fear knotted inside of my intestines, bloody claws reaching to slice my throat out. If the air was actually a force controlling me, it would be a frozen block of stale stone, because I could not breathe. Somehow, I was sucking in artificial oxygen, or something that was heavy.

 

Empty, the room was. The room was empty from noise and objects, despite the scarlet splatters on the walls, brown muck, lamps, chair, and a table. Cells of silence swarmed the sticky room as my eyes cut through the dead atmosphere. As if it was on cue, I let out a sigh, and the bulky man burst through the door. Silvery golden spikes and bars pierced through his ears, bleeding as if they were fresh brand-new gems that drooped his flesh to his shoulders. Muscles bulged through his thick arms like a limber gun with spheres glued to it. 

 

"You're on, Slicker," alerted the muscular man with a teasing, small smirk, a heavy machine gun held in his hand. "Get up." Slicker was a slang for people who would all ways get in trouble. I hated the reason I was beginning to get called that. I stubbornly stomped up and entered through the steel door. Suddenly, all the terror that I felt suddenly faded away into a blurry dream. It was as if all the fear and memories washed away, and that was a good thing. Because death can punish those dreaded recollections and imprison them somewhere safe. Maybe death is a good thing.

The air felt sticky with dust and grimy, black blood painted the walls. Cobwebs flew over my head like thick, sticky limbs of goop, and there was a man, maybe in his older fifties or so, with square, ruby glasses that illuminated his eyes so glassy and bright they were like murky sets of jewels that were imprisoned in the deep clouds of fog. Puncturing against my heart were those spiky, dull-gray augers, and as I walked forward, he smiled weakly at an attempt to make me think he was nice. I didn't think so. My eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and I hoped he wouldn't notice this action as I was afraid of what he might do. He pointed to his name tag and said, "I'm Murphy Donnell. You must be my test subject. It's nice to meet you, Cassandra."

Fucking liar. I cringed at his words, the harsh words just ready to spill out of my mouth at him

 

 An impatient smile flashed quickly before it melted away, jotting down notes with his pale hand that contained a small, white pen, blue ink slightly scattered over it. After he dribbled down some blue-colored notes, he nudged his glasses upward and grinned slightly, clutching the clipboard with his two, scrunched up fists. "Now," he finally said, slicing the cold air with his raspy voice, "let's get started, shall we? I suppose I should tell you the experiment."

He started informing me about the syringe that would pierce through my skin, a soft smoked-orange fluid trickling down your veins. Next, he began chatting about the gas chamber, which overflowed with toxic gas, kind of like poison or something, when activated with a flip of a trigger. The gas was supposedly a duplicate of the (gas form) liquid the monsters behind the gate inflicted on you-varieties of them breezed through the lists of different attacking effects, ranging from memory loss and replaced with hatred and anger to an endless sea of death. That was why the W.I.O. provided these deadly experiments.

 

"All right, we're here," informed the man as he stepped toward a steel door, metallic screws that punctured through the edges making it seem impossible for it to open. But, once he knocked, a red ocean of lasers pricked through his skin after he removed his glasses, staring directly at the dot of scarlet beams. "World In Order employee confirmed," the robotic voice stated, a hiss of smoke emerging from the pit of darkness ahead.

 "Scan completed. Welcome, Murphy E. Donnell."

 

We entered the hall of blackness, the shadows of twilight shading my face a pure color of the night's soul. Murphy turned to me with a nervous grin. "Don't worry," he assured, "you'll be fine. This is just a test." Right, a test you can never pass. A test you fail and can never make up.  You'd die either way if you failed or pass.

A blade of blackness cut into my face as a hazy atmosphere cloaked around me. Finally, a sharp eye-dagger light glistened throughout the room like a fiery sun. It seemed to bash with darkness as the night gleamed a perfect glow. A black case was planted on a chipped wooden stool that was placed in the center of the room. Murphy gingerly cracked open the case slightly, as if to shield whatever was in there from me. He pulled out a long, immense syringe that flowed with a dark orange inside the glass window. "This is the syringe you'll be tested with," he notified as he stepped closer. I lifted my chin up obediently before he could say so, and he nodded slowly as if it was an approval of what I just did. 

 

Then, he carefully swiped a wet tissue on one part of my neck, damped by heavy amounts of alcohol, and plunged the thin needle into my tissue of skin, which instantly made everything that I once held feel loose and hefty. White, glistening gradients obscured my sight, colors swallowing my vision whole.

Suddenly, I felt a light shove to the door and realized that I was being pushed by Murphy, and into the black crack of an opening, which then led into a small chamber of pure silver, large holes punctured at the sides. Barely any patterns or decorations stood at the room-except for the clouds of black, sprouting branches that seemed to extend at every second on the walls. "Stay here," the man demanded firmly, then went out into another door, in which I haven't seen until then. A screech of feedback squealed throughout the room, an echo reflecting back.

 

"Can you hear me?" the blurred, grating voice whispered. I nodded, realizing that there was a pass-code wired to the door. "All right, Cassandra. Test One."

Green smoke divulged from the immense, round holes, emerging from the halo of darkness. It consumed the open breeze of air, whisking it until it almost engulfed clean drafts. It thrashed about with the atmosphere, as if in a strangled fight, and won, twirling across the room. But I just stood there, not responding, and accepted my death.

I closed my eyes, counted the seconds until my last breath. One. Seven. Thirteen. Inhaling, I stared at the threatening fogs of moss, the mist almost like a thick blanket of alive steam haunting me, teasing me. Again, I shut my eyes, as if it were a complete way to barricade the growing fume from making contact with my internal organs. Suddenly, my nostrils tugged in the horrible stench of the gas, the strong scent hovered over my nose. Then, as a thick mask of blackness overlaid my vision, I was magnetized to the frigid, cold floor, like all the weight my organs held were suddenly hauling me along with it as it collapsed onto the ground.

Let go. You're going to die now. There isn't any use fighting anymore, because you're too weak to fight.   
I was ready to sob. To burst into fits of crying, but I didn't. I had to force the water to stay into my eyes.

But before I faded away from reality, a booming noise, like yelling, screeching, and thrashing fights, echoed through the room, feedback flowing through the wave of sound. Just then, as I started hacking and spitting out my saliva I blinked an uncountable amount of times and while the green fog slowly immersed to my position, as if I was their source of gravity, electronic sounds started to beep in the large distance. 

 

Then, a hissing echo fizzled, emitting fog as the metal door swung open. Followed by that was a man, my sight extremely blurry, and he was apparelled in thick gear, a shiny gas mask on his face. He was handsome, grinned brightly with white teeth, and lustrous, marble-blue eyes that glistened under the moonlight that slightly poured out of the crack in the wall-only a little. His hair was a fluffy dirty-blonde, reached to his neck; his lower skin was freckled in small strands. How he could smile so beautifully in this matter of the situation, I didn't know.

But the words he said next, before I rose into a dark cliff of sleepiness, will never leave my head.  
"How's it goin', bro?" he greeted with a tiny chuckle.

"I'm Felix. Everything's gonna be all nice and beautiful, okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, please leave kudos or a positive comment!  
> If you didn't, you can leave your comment as well, just no downright INSULTING!


	3. Saved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: WHEN I WROTE THIS, I REALIZED HOW EXTREMELY OOC (OUT OF CHARACTER) MARZIA AND FELIX IS. THEY ARE VERY.  
> EXTREMELY.  
> OH MY GOD SO HORRIBLY  
> OOC.

"Felix!" screeched a female, italian voice, sounding frail and feeble at every crack. As my sight transformed into a bright clarity, I gazed at the source of the sound: a comely young woman with dark, almond brown eyes and golden hazel hair hastily tied into a ponytail. She wore a frilly, pink top, legs layered in thin, scratchy, blue pants. Next to her was a slightly older man, his floppy, walnut-blonde strands forming a sea of golden hair, frizzling threads crumbling at the edges. 

 

“You went back there again, didn’t you?” she spoke, her accent was so strong it was hard to tell her words. Her voice was serious, and so was her face. But in a way, it seems like she used to be the happiest living creature on earth before. She would’ve appeared that way, except for the dark bags under her eyes and noticeable frowns, along with what seems to be wet tear trails down her cheeks.

The boy, Felix grabbed the sides of his head, letting his fingers comb through his hair before letting them rest by his side. "I had to, Marzia. I need to save those people," he calmly stated, gripping the girl's shoulders lightly.

"I should've at least came with you . . . I-"

 

"And what good would that do?" he asked with a serious look plastered onto his face. "Besides, you're not even trained to become a Red Soldier." Then, he breathed, spitting out a messy clump of words, "Minx's got the other body. We both found three victims in total."

Marzia raised an eyebrow, obviously shocked. "Three bodies?" she exclaimed, astonishment in her tone. "How . . . Felix! You're not that strong, are you?" She was teasing, but it seemed that she was actually serious. Probably an attempt to lighten the dreary atmosphere.

 

"Hey, but I'm still fabulous," he joked but it still seemed so grim, and they both laughed lightly. Then, I decided I had enough. Groaning with the effort and pain that thunder-bolted in my chest and neck, I writhed in my poor excuse for a sleeping bag, squirming to find a path for getting out of that stout, shredded covering. A gasp clawed into the empty, silent air.

"She's awake . . . Hey, she's awake!" the woman nearly shouted. Felix hushed her, before walking over to me and checking my arms and necks for any injuries.

Surprisingly, though, he did discover a deep wound on my forearm, bleeding. It was bleeding nonstop. I wondered how I couldn't feel it.

"Ahh fu-," he muttered, before turning to Marzia. "Marzia . . . you were forced to learn some medical stuff, right? Can you patch this up, and bring her water?" he called.

"Yeah, okay, Pewds," she called back. Pewds? I pondered. I thought his name was Felix. Now it's Pewds? She scurried off as Pewds examined my large wound. Finally, he glanced at me and smiled, a neon-green set of headphones dangling across his shoulders.

"He-eyy, how ya doin'?"

 

"Where am I?" I inquired, searching around, but all I saw was blackness, until glowing bright torches glimmered in a burning sphere of luminosity. "Is . . . Is this some kind of . . . prison?" It was a dumb question, but instead of scowling, he chuckled, something that I could never do because of the sprouting orchard of fear that grew inside of me. "Nope," he answered a bit too happily, spreading his arms out in welcome. "This is my camp-and I'm the leader! I run these sons o’ bi—”

 

"Yeah, okay," I interrupted, a tiny scoff-snicker escaping my mouth at his adult humor. "I still don't know who you are, where I am exactly, and what just happened. Care to explain?" He sat down on the dirt-sprayed, grubby blanket beside me, its patterns a bright sky-blue, faced toward me with his legs propped by his chest, arms over it, and started to speak, his Swedish accent so strong and solid as it coated his words.

 

"You're a curious one, bro," he said with barely any expression, then continued. "Well, since you're so questionable about this lil' space here, I'll tell you."

He started to let the correct terms pour out of his mouth, constructing into a mass of paragraphs. Felix spilled his past, how his childhood built up into a structure of a terrific future, all his fame and glory, source of intelligence and wisdom, where he got the nickname "PewDiePie". He didn't tell me much about how he ended up in here. All he stated was that it was painful getting here."I'm a Red Soldier," he muttered firmly, eyebrows pinched in pure seriousness now. "You know, the troopers who guard the four main gates? Yeah, that's me, except . . ." He pulled away, then returned to reality, entering the cold mist of air. "I'm a traitor. I'm a Dark Soldier. Those who oppose W.I.O." The ripping shred of wind burst through our faces, as if trying to claw our flesh out. "I've left my station, and there's no going back. Saving all these people . . . that's against my duty."

 

"Wow," I muttered, looking down at my lap. "Do you think any Red Soldiers will find you?" I asked. 

Felix shook his head. "I don't know. I really hope not," he answered. Marzia came walking back with a small bottle of water in her hands.

"Sorry I took so long," she whispered. "Ken just got back from hunting. I'm guessing he caught a deer because he looked so happy." She handed me the bottle of water and I thanked her for it.

 

"So you never told us your name," Felix told me as Marzia walked back to a tent, raising an eyebrow as he waited for my answer.

"Right," I mumbled. "I'm Cassandra." 

 

Felix nodded. Awkward silence filled the air as I thought of something to say.

"Well," Felix said as he started to stand up. "I need to check on the others, so try to make yourself comfortable." Yeah, right. Like I was going to make myself comfortable in this rough sleeping bag. I looked down at my clothes to see I had a grey jacket on and writing on my collar that said Test Subject 205.

 

The aching, horrendous pain that shot into my nerves; the shrieks and echoes that reflected on the walls like a series of mirrors reflecting sunlight, draining down the little cracks for other victims to hear and fear. It was horrible-it was downright terrifying. But my wound-it needed some patching up, and Marzia should've eased the pain. And as if I had triggered my wish by my deep thoughts, she scampered over to me, carrying large jugs of alcohol and band-aids. Her golden hair shone under the moonlight, and she looked at my wound with those dark eyes of hers.

 

"Hi, Cassandra," she greeted with a sincere smile, and before I could ask, she answered, "Felix told me."

"Oh," I simply replied as she scrambled through her medical supplies. But first, she took a water bottle and poured some onto a rag and pressed it against the bleeding. She did the for a while, then pressed down on the wound for a long time. She tended my wound, but at one point she hurt a nerve which made me curse out in pain.

“Fuck!” I gritted my teeth and jolted a bit. Marzia looked at me, as I laughed nervously.

“Sorry,” I muttered, scratching my head. Instead of a different, bored reaction, she laughed.

"You remind me of Felix," she giggled, wrapping a thin, fuzzy blanket of gauzes around my thick arm. "Always joking around and cursing when he's panicked . . ." Her voice was like a swirling wave of silk, a beautiful, cute pitch immersed in clouds; so soft and gentle with each touch of a syllable. I shifted my eyebrow, confused.

"Pewds-Sorry, I mean, Felix is like that?" I tried to grasp a hold of my deep thoughts that dug in the deep depths of shadows in my mind, trying to search for any memory of this guy, for he felt familiar, but it was too dark to see through the lack of light, recollections buried there.

"Oh yeah," she answered. "Does it all the time. He's so easily scared."

"Really? You sure? Doesn't look like it to me."

 

A slight chuckle escaped her lips, breezed the air with its happiness. "I don't know. But he's funny and cute, you know?" Marzia sighed breathlessly, then smiled at me. "I should get going. Ken's probably outside with dinner." Confusion consumed my brain.

"Ken? Who's Ken?" Flashing a grin, she replied, "I think you'll like him. He's an awesome gunman."

♦ ♦ ♦

Marzia handed me a small piece of meat which I assumed was from a deer. I was pretty hungry, but it seemed like I would vomit if I did eat something. It was like a slimy piece of sludge smearing over my tastebuds, and the goop revolted my stirring stomach that exploded with hunger gnawing at my insides. I put my hand on my stomach and the other over my mouth, gagging. I saw Marzia give me a strange look in the corner of my eye, but it quickly lit up. "You've never eaten meat before?" Marzia chuckled, digging the silver fork further into the air. I held my head back, twitching from the food that I thought was disgusting.

 

"Come on," I muttered, trying to rub my stomach. "I'm not much of a meat lover," I said.

Marzia nodded understandingly. "If you don't want it, I can eat it for you,” she smiled sweetly.

"Thanks," I replied and waved my hand at her as she started leaving. I laid back down on my rough sleeping bag and rolled over, sighing. My stomach still growled from hunger but I guess I wouldn't be eating if there wasn't any food that I like. I'll admit that I am a picky eater, but if I eat a food I don't like, my stomach will reject it and either make me gag or throw up.

 

"Hey, are you all right?" asked a Swedish voice.

"Yeah," I replied, rolling back over to face Felix who was kneeling over next to me. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Marzia told me that you looked sick when you started eating," Felix said. I shifted a little bit to get comfortable.

 

"Well, I'm fine. I just feel a little nauseous when I try new food, but I'm not sick."

Felix smiled. "Oh well, good. We wouldn't be able to deal with sick people." I raised an eyebrow, noticing what he had said about what would happen if I was sick. Felix widened his eyes slightly. "N-No, I didn't mean it like that. . . ," he said nervously. I laughed a little. "Sick people are just hard to take care of when you're being hunted by people, and even worse, being hunted by monsters," Felix explained. 

 

"Yeah, that's exactly what I meant!" he laughed. He then stopped for a few seconds as if trying to remember something now. "Oh, yeah! I need to show you something. You feeling a little better?" Felix asked.

"I guess," I answered and shrugged. "The only thing hurting is this stupid arm." I looked at the arm with layers of gauzes wrapped around it and moved it around. It didn't hurt that bad now from the protective coat of bandages, like a cloth-like shield.

"Alright, come with me, I'll show you around the camp," Felix smiled. I stood up as well and we started walking around the camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, please leave kudos or a positive comment!  
> If you didn't, you can leave your comment as well, just no downright INSULTING!


	4. A New Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra meets her new group

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter D:

The man's eyes flicked over to me. The hat that sat above his head was the one catching me off guard. Felix was talking to him while I was standing behind them. They seemed serious for a moment, talking about what the man had seen when he was guarding. After a moment of waiting, I suddenly heard Felix say, "Ken, this is Cassandra. I rescued her when she was being experimented on." He moved out of the way so I could see Ken.We shook hands and I gave a friendly smile. Then, Ken smirked and looked at Felix.  
"What were you doing rescuing other women?" I was taken slightly aback by that and looked at Felix for some help.

 

Felix laughed lightly with his signature severed smile.”Shut up Ken. Anyway, we saved three victims today, including Cassy. A female adult, then Michelle carried a boy; said that he weighed about as many pounds as me, so he must be around my age," he informed casually.

"W-who's Michelle?" I asked. There must be a lot of people in this camp that I don't know. I'm not even sure if they're good people or not. They probably are, considering how nice Felix was so far.

"She's one of the Red Soldiers who betrayed World In Order. She saved a boy when he passed out, like you," Ken replied. I was confused. From the new laws, women were not supposed to be Red Soldiers."

"But, Red Soldiers are supposed to be men only, right?" I asked.

"She wanted to help protect people so she disguised herself and saved someone. She actually is really good at doing a manly voice, I never thought he’d pull it off.” I smiled.

 

"So she disguised herself to become a red soldier and betrayed them to save people like Felix," I said, repeating what he said.

 

Ken nodded, "Yep, exactly." I was pretty happy that there were some people who still loved the world, unlike the people now. Police officers used to stop people from murdering each other. Now, they let scientists take them and kill them. The government no longer protects us, instead they kill helpless children and they don't even give a shit about it. They are so cold hearted. It wasn't like the free country I remember it to be. Or at least . . . I'm trying to remember.

 

I can't remember the last time we had happy days before these monsters invaded us and caused the government to go nuts. "So where is Michelle?" I asked.

 

"I think she's on watch right now but she said she wanted to know who the two other victims were," Felix said with a nod. "Once they wake up, we'll calm them down and have a chat with them like we did with you." I nodded and decided to chat with Ken for a while and get to know him. He seemed to have the same career as Felix and is thirty years old.

 

Felix left since Marzia needed him for something. While doing that, Ken and I took a walk together around the camp. Ken was careful not to get any of the monsters close enough to infect us. The air was cool and crisp but the camp seemed a little too bright that it might attract unwanted people or even the monsters. "So Cassandra," Ken started. "How old are you?" He scratched the back of his neck, as if he was unsure of what to say.

"I'm twenty-four, turning twenty-five next month though," I mumbled. I heard a few muffled screams suddenly in the distance. Once I heard it I widened my eyes and bit my lip. Am I really that much of a coward? Ken noticed the look on my face.

 

"Just ignore it, Cassandra," he said. I let out a relieved sigh, greatful that the screams of terror faded away. Now what I had to do was survive in the wilderness. Hopefully, these people are strong to fight these horrifying monsters. We chatted until Felix came up to us. He told us to go back to our tents since it was getting really dark now and that it wouldn't be so safe to just stay out here.

I lay still on my cold sleeping bag, trying to fall asleep, but it was too uncomfortable to sleep. I turned around on my side and closed my eyes. The camp was eerily quiet now and the flames of the fire were blown out. I really hope somebody is on watch because I don't want to be attacked right now, especially if I was just saved. I was alone in this tent and it scared me but I had to deal with it. Suddenly, I heard a loud shout. Not a scream, but a shout somewhere in the camp like someone was calling someone. Would the diseased creatures hear the loud shout? It would be so much of a problem. I argued with myself to not go lurking around in the dark but of course, my curiosity got to me. Startled, I slowly crawled over to the entrance and opened the zipper enough for me to peek and gently put my foot out.

 

I heard a british voice shout two names. "Pewds! Ken!" She seemed so terrified or really worried about something. I hope there wasn't one of those things attacking us. I unzipped the tent and crawled out, looking at a woman who was holding a body, maybe even a corpse in her arms. Weird thing was, it kept squirming around or jerking uncomfortably. I noticed Felix and Ken getting out of their tents, Marzia peeking through her tent with worry in her eyes. I rushed over quietly, hearing what she was saying. "I found one of the subjects squirming in his sleep. He had bruises on his face but another part of the mask covered his right." 

 

Another test subject. He must be waking up. The man had almost like a patient outfit and had the words and numbers, Test Subject 206. The number after me . . .

Though he should have a grey jacket like me. His outfit was pure white other then the red blotches of blood stained all over it and his sleeves were literally connected. His arms stuck in them. If he was a test subject, why would he have this outfit? Like he was some mental patient? Suddenly, I felt a rather loud pounding in my head. I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to ease the pain. It could quite possibly mean that he was dangerous. I thought hard to try to remember of how to tell which test subject they were like.

 

He had short black hair and his eyes were closed. His left side of his face was bruised a lot. The upper right was covered up with a ripped, bloody mask that trailed over his cheek. I wonder what happened to him? Did he get beaten up or something?  
From my knowledge, I already know that those insane doctors would run tests on them including putting that fluid that Murphy injected into my arm and that deadly gas poisioning, but they would not bruise them or anything like it. Never would they use a weapon to slap bruises onto them or did it depend on their behavior . . . ? I heard footsteps behind me and found Felix standing by my side, looking rather surprised and stiff. He steadied the body closer, looking at him like he was a puzzle he needed to solve. 

"Holy shit," he breathed. Ken snapped his head over to look at Felix, a look of confusion plastered onto his face.

"What?"

"This is someone I knew a long time ago."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, please leave kudos or a positive comment!  
> If you didn't, you can leave your comment as well, just no downright INSULTING!


	5. Hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra goes hunting with Ken and Felix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a lot of short chapters that may make no sense.
> 
> If you liked this, please leave kudos or a positive comment!  
> If you didn't, you can leave your comment as well, just no downright INSULTING!

    

Chapter 4

"Felix . . .?" Marzia asked. All Felix did was still stare at the now unmoving body, no sound made except the harsh wind brushing against the tree trunks and messing up my hair. Felix averted his gaze when the boy's head fell to the side with the tips of his dark, black hair gently brushing the air.

 

"I think he should be fine now. Until then, I'll start to keep an eye on him," the woman broke the silence that filled the quiet air. I sighed, a puff of ice escaped my lips. "Go back to sleep, too," she muttered. Marzia yawned loudly, stretching her arms and taking steps over to Felix.

"I'm tired," her eyelids covering her eyes halfway. She turned on her heels, hands swaying by her side and her feet scraping over the dirt. First night. . .

 

Who knows how long I'd be staying here? I couldn't leave. No. I can't, I just can't. It's too risky and I can never defend myself. I'm too much of a coward with the terrifying thoughts of being eaten alive by the monsters crawling all over the place. I kicked my foot in the dirt with a noise of a small stomp being heard. I knew that no one else would start another conversation so I muttered a small, "Goodbye" and left, scratching my head awkwardly as I trudged towards the small tent. As I entered, I suddenly heard screeching noises and the sound of hissing and growling. My hands shook and I started feeling the sweat beads form onto my forehead. I backed up, rubbing my arm nervously and chewing the inside of my cheek.

 

Calm down. Calm down, Cassandra. Ignore it. There's no one near the camp. You can't save them. I sighed and crawled into the tent and plopped onto the sleeping bag, feeling the fabric on my skin. I snugged into it and felt a little bit warmer. When I closed my eyelids, I thought of what has happened today. 

 

I was almost killed, but have gotten saved by someone who has betrayed the W.I.O. Taken to a camp where I know nobody. Then, met a couple of people and saw another patient who seemed different as if he was dangerous. Then, the camp leader realizes that he knows the mental patient.

Seriously, what the fuck?

I wonder if it's fate that brought me, the other patients here. Maybe my fate was that I had to be alive, and something was important that I had to accomplish before I actually rot away.

My stomach grumbled.

I was hungry. I haven't eaten for at least two days. One, because I sat at that testing place longer than I intended to be. At least twelve hours as they picked off innocent civilians, one by one.

Each one of them maybe had a lover, friend, or problem they wanted to solve before death. When I waited in that crowded, yet quiet room, filled with men and women, they shook their heads, murmured prayers. Some held other's hands and gazed into each other's eyes like a reassuring look before death. Before they get separated.

All their heads were dirty with dried, crusty blood from struggling away from the guards.

 

♦ ♦ ♦

 

The sun easily shone through my tent and peeled open my sleeping eyes. I pulled in my knees and rested my face in it. After resting a little, I slowly opened my tent and put my foot over the grass. Air swept my hair around in every which way. More people were awake then I had expected. Michelle had been going back and cutting up what I assumed to leftover pieces of the deer and walked into a large tent, large enough for at least five people.

Ken was sitting quietly by a small fire, throwing scraps of food and twigs on the dirt from the night before. The igniting flames sent a comforting sensation down my body. I needed some warmth after that night. It was freezing. I woke up, hugging in my knees and shutting my eyes, trying to sleep again. Now, I got to feel warmer. I snugged closer by the fire as the man carelessly threw dry sticks into the fire, making it bigger. The fire smelt like smoke. Its ashes flew upward and joined the wind.

"How long have you had this camp?" I said softly, starting up a conversation as I stepped closer to the burning flames. My skin was now dusted red from the light it produced. Ken, looked up, slightly startled before he relaxed.

"Maybe a few weeks or so after W.I.O began. Has Felix ever told you that he was a youtuber?" Ken asked.

"Yeah, last night."

"Well anyways, so was I. I wasn't as famous as Felix, I mean, really," Ken chuckled. "But we were good friends. We also played with another friend, but I don't know where he's at. We all hoped he survived and we could find him or something. But he'd also probably be with his livestream buddies." Ken shook his head.  
"It was good timing. We just happened to be in the right area at the right time. Felix had something he had to do here but that's when those blue blood monsters started attacking. He survived with Marzia, somehow. Then, W.I.O built faster than I thought. I was in the city, and I bumped into those two. We formed a group, but we stayed homeless for a while before Felix watched the Red Soldiers training."

So many stories, so many people.   
I propped my head in my hand and traced circles on my leg. He paused, but I nodded to show that I was listening.

"Oh yeah, bumping into those two was more terrifying than you think. If you bump into somebody, it was possible you could get yourself into an unintentional fight, so I accidentally, punched Felix in the fac-"

I snickered, covering my mouth. "Don't need to finish that, I already know what happened." I shook my head, can't believing a good guy like him would do that.

Ken cleared his throat. "Anyway, he had a really ugly bruise on his cheek after that and only then did I realize that it was Felix. Marzia was shaking Felix and I kept apologizing."

 

"We got out of there, and we didn't really worry about his bruise and hoped that it would heal soon. So back to us being homeless. We saw a lot of Red Soldiers after we moved to a different place." Ken then brought his bow and arrow onto his lap as he examined the bow.

"Felix was watching them train, and me and Marzia hoped that he wasn't thinking anything stupid. Until we watched them march to the streets. A bunch of kids were on the ground and men and women were handcuffed there and looking down at the kids. Most of them cried and cried. Some were frozen or angry. Guns were pointed at all of their heads by Red Soldiers. The parents were crying and screaming or something and we all hid back down before we could see their blood all over the ground. Then, the parents started going crazy."  
I added some dry leaves to make the fire grow.  
"So, Marzia was so surprised, and she looked slightly horrified. That's when Felix heard about the Dark Soldiers. He saw Red Soldiers, and they started abandoning their duties. They had extremely relieved subjects in their arms. He wanted to join it then, and his whole self changed."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Felix was usually cheerful, funny, liked to make jokes and swear, a lot. And I mean a lot on camera. But not so much in real life. But after W.I.O his face stopped smiling and he became more serious than ever. Marzia too. She lost what I called her, um, oh right, her happy voice which was actually her voice in a slightly higher pitch. But she was using her regular voice now after the kids were shot. Then, Felix became a soldier. A Dark Soldier."

"That's when we found Minx, or Michelle. Felix was gathering some subjects and hurriedly leading them out the door when another Dark Soldier joined in with a british accent. Felix and Minx told us that she was actually pretty good at pretending she was a guy and-"

"Pewds! Ken! He's up again," that same british voice screamed. We all instantly stood up. I bolted toward the sound of the voice with Ken jumping ahead of me. Felix slowly paced over, rubbing his eyes as he walked over. His movements were so sluggish. He would mess with his hair for a bit before he slowed his pace again. Ken just then rolled his eyes and sighed, pulling him along as we all entered the large tent.

"So . . . um, Felix," I mumbled, sitting down with my legs criss crossed over the rocky ground. He looked upwards at me, nodding quickly as if gesturing me to go on. "You know this person?" I pointed to the body slightly jolting and mumbling on the mattress. His blood covered sleeves were slightly torn now.

"Yeah, in fact all of us know him, except for Cassandra," he sighed. Ken froze and shot the man a questioning look. Same with the other woman.  
"I don't actually, who is this guy?"

Felix kneeled down next to him, beckoning us to come over. We all had an understanding of what he looked like again. His left eye was slightly open, but he was still breathing. He wasn't dead.

"It's Cry," Felix answered. Ken's face instantly twisted into a completely shocked face. There was a long moment of silence before the other girl I barely knew smiled in surprise.  
"Holy shit, holy shit! How did I not realize that before!?" she grabbed the subject's shoulders. "He has blue eyes, the mask and everything!" she laughed.

"Wait," I muttered, my voice hoarse and shy. The tent went silent as I realized that they all were listening.  
"He's clearly different from the other patients. Why is he wearing like a . . . a mental outfit? And he's all bruised and bloody," I pointed. Only then did the idiots realize that as they tugged on the suit.

"Number 206? Cassandra, he's the number after you. Did you ever see him somewhere before?"

"No. Everyone else had the same jacket as me. Not this mental one though."  
 This boy was the only one here. His black hair had also very faint streaks of dark brown. Felix stood up, wiping off his knees in the process and he pulled Ken along with him. "Ken, we should go hunting," he said. Ken stuck up his bow and arrow.

"Perfect! I was just sharpening my arrows too. Lets keep an eye out for a bear or stream." I stood up as well, watching the sky's sun lift through the opening crack of the tent.

Looking for an adventure, I daringly spoke up. "Can I come with you guys?" I mutter, looking up at them slowly. Ken and Felix turn around.  
"Really, don't you wanna rest? You were just at a slaughterhouse yesterday," Ken replied.

"Yeah, I know but I never went hunting before . . ." I trailed off as shrugged his shoulders, looking at the man.  
Ken pursed his lips and seemed to ponder for a while, looking at the ground, then at the unconscious boy next to the woman who was taking care of him, than at me.

"I guess so . . . Do you have a useful weapon? Or good aim maybe?" Ken asked slowly.  
Bowing my head, I bit my lip and stared at the green bottom of the tent. "I haven't killed anyone, or fought a monster before. Yes, I have put people into hospitals, but I never used any knives or any other tool to hurt them. And plus, it was self defense."

Ken and Felix shared a look of unsureness. "You're lucky, Cassy that I actually found a knife when I was running to save people," Felix spoke. "I'd give it to you, but we need to pack weapons and stuff for survival. Hunting could actually take longer than a quick time. I learned that from experience and video games," he smiled.

"Oh, well. I still want to come. You know, maybe I can make myself useful one day and learn how to fight blue bloods like a pro," I joked. With a few light laughs there, the two men left the tent and I decided to stay with Michelle or whatever her name was for a small bit before I went to go with the guys. Besides, I barely had anything except for a sleeping bag.

"So, how you like this place so far?" she piped up as she propped her chin on one hand. I was taken slightly aback but smiled lightly.  
"I-It's safer than expected. And everyone is nice, too," I replied, remembering Ken, Marzia and Felix speak with friendliness in their voice. Minx chuckled.

"We have a lot of other friends too, but we aren't sure if they made it. This guy right here," Michelle grabbed the arm of the unconscious boy and lifted it, "had other companions as well. He was also a good friend of ours. Him and the guys were close. I hope they made it."

Michelle dropped his arm, and so did her smile. "Ken and Pewds probably are waiting for you. Don't fuck with them too much. They might poison you with their humor," she laughed it off, but it was obvious that she didn't expect a response. 

Well, weird. 

I exited the tent, and roamed around the camp. As I examined the area more clearly, I realized that we were surrounded by trees. It seemed like such a bad place to hide, but I rarely hear any blue veins. Possibly because everyone here is quiet, or maybe that's my theory. I ran straight for my tent, gathering anything that looks important. What do I have?

Well, okay. Nothing.

♦ ♦ ♦

A silver bowie knife was placed into my pale hands. Its silver sliver looked back at me as I looked back at it with unsureness, surprise, and fear. Over my back was placed a small, brown book bag that seems like it was for a kid in elementary school. Well, except for the red blotches of blood splattered over it and the brown, dry ones there as well.  
 

Willowy trees hovered above us and, my neurotic self kept glancing around every time I heard a small noise, such as a bird tweet or chatter of a squirrel. I kept looking backwards at the hollow trees and multiple zigzags we had come across, terrified that we might never find our way back. The orange leaves kept falling every time the squirrels crawled atop the branches, shaking them. The leaves fell on my head.

I rubbed my hands together, holding the knife and flipping it over and over. This is to protect myself from any blue bloods creatures, or strangers.

"I hear water," Felix said, his eyes zooming from left to right. Ken's eyes did the same.

"I hear it too," he said, "It might be coming from the left." Felix suddenly had a look of confusion on his face.

"Wait, what about the right?"

"Well walk over there and if you're any closer to the sound, tell me," Ken shook his head. "It's louder on the left."  
As they argued, I looked back, toward where camp was, then went on to listen to the two's conversation.

"If you get lost, you're going to die."

"I can always just go back the way we came from."

I walked closer to the left, hearing the sound of running water getting louder and louder in my ears. "Cassy! Hey, where are you going?" Ken called after me. Only then did I realize that I was like, ten yards away from them and walking even more. I halted, realizing my mistake and laughed nervously.

"I hear water this way. We could probably catch some fish," I said.

I saw Ken whisper, "Yes!" quietly while pumping his fist in the air while Felix sat there, unamused and following us. The crisp, cool air whispered into my ears and poked angrily at my skin, making myself feel frigid.

I squeezed my fists together, swallowing a lump in my throat as I desperately tried warming myself up, but to no avail. The sound of water, a stream, or maybe a waterfall boomed louder into my eardrums. Exhaling, I agreed to myself that I should be useful and climb something to get a better view.

"Is it okay to climb the tree to get a better view?" I asked as the men. Ken shrugged. Felix tilted his head a bit.

"If your arm is feeling any better, I don't know. Give it a try."

Mustering up courage and excitement, I instantly ran for the tallest tree I could find, which just so happened to be a few trees away. I grabbed a thick branch, and found another one to put my hand on. Since there was no other branches at the bottom trunk of the tree, I had to quickly use it as a boost to find another branch.  
I repeated the process, grabbing all the little dry, sharp branches until I was high enough to look out at the forest. "Thank you, if I fell I would've humiliated myself," I chuckled quietly. My eyes scanned the small area, the stream and the enormous mass of forest trees around us. The destination we have all been looking for was not so far away. I could see a rapid-moving stream along the trees, trailing all the way down until I couldn't see it anymore. "Ken, Felix! I found it! It's big too!" I yelled, looking down.

My face fell flat after hearing Felix's signature swedish voice laugh and say, "That's what she said.".  
"I'm coming down," I said, climbing slowly and carefully. Really, this camp is not bad at all. Everyone so far is nice, and I have the certain feeling that not just Felix and Ken are Youtubers, possibly the whole camp.

It all happened last night, yet it felt like I've known them for decades. Marzia is a sweet caring person. Felix is funny and helpful. Ken is pretty cool. He's about like seven years older than me though yet he acts so much younger.  Michelle, I just met. She's actually kind of laid back, but she made me feel awkward sometimes.  
The sudden wind rushed past me as I climbed lower, which caused me to growl in annoyance. Unexpectedly, I misplaced my foot and it slipped down the trunk.  Panicked, I let go of the branches.  Dumbass. My throat rumbled and suppressed only a loud gasp, as I stared upward at the branches I had once climbed. I squeezed my eyes closed, staring at the darkness that clouded my eyes, waiting for the impact. The freezing wind swept under me, over and around my body. In my ears, I hear the panicked voices of Felix and Ken when I finally hit the ground.

I had turned on my side and attempted to use my elbow or something as a cushion for the ground. That didn't help. The ground was packed with tough dirt particles, which gathered up as my outstretched hand came in contact. The pain angrily gnawed at my nerves, shooting them toward the hurting area. I had shut my eyes at that.

As the pain worsened, I gritted my teeth, screaming into them, only sounding like an angered yell as tears dared to prick in my eyes.  
"Okay, um, I'm not good at this. Come on, ah, Felix help me," I heard Ken say, panicked. 

"Dammit. Uh, her arm is throbbing."

"Guys, I'm not unconscious, my arm is hurting really bad. It hurts so bad," I hissed, trying to stand with my other arm, the one wrapped in bandages. I stared at my arm. It felt like a million knifes cut into my arm at once when I moved it, so I let it stay limp there.

"I'm fine. I can still do stuff. Just not with this arm." Ken and Felix both had their faces expressionless.

"You'd probably need to rest for a while, hmm," Ken pondered. "How far is the water source you found?"  
"Not far. It's within walking distance. Just go straight over there," I muttered, pointing to the direction. Felix was fishing through his own bag, cursing. His hands moved quickly through it, until he found what seemed to be gauzes. 

"I knew we needed these," he sighed. Felix placed all of the things that belonged in his bag back in. I caught a glimpse of a few knives, one large container and a medium sized picture that he let linger in his hold for a few seconds, which gave me enough time to examine it.

The picture was in color, him with Marzia, both smiling. Except, Felix held two paws of a black dog, showing its belly. It was a pug. Marzia was holding another dog, a cream-like color and the same breed as they both had the same features, except different colors. I could see that she had one eye sticking out of her head, yet the other was no where to be seen. She held the dog next to the black one, and they both looked straight into the camera. I saw him sigh before he shoved the picture back into his backpack.

As we all walked, Felix slowly walked up next to me. "I'm gonna wrap these around your arm," he simply stated before slowly taking the injured arm and wrapping around the gauze, carefully, and going over each spot that was turning red or purple.

"It's so weird. There's rarely any diseased here. I'd expect to see a lot when I first came here, but I barely see any," Ken said as he looked around the forest. Felix was walking while wrapping the gauze around my arm as Ken continued.

Felix stopped wrapping the gauze. When he finished, we both walked in sync with Ken. "I think I might see a stream up ahead," Felix said. Ken lifted his chin up, trying to get a better view of what the swedish was looking at. Since I was shorter than the rest of them, I just looked straight ahead, walking until I could actually see it.

There.

The stream waters was glistening with the orange sun light. It bounced off the water like a basketball as Felix and Ken sprinted past me. "So much fish in these waters, hm? At least we can go here too to help with the food."

Ken started dipping his feet into the water. "Ah! It's cold," he shivered, as he readied his bow and arrow. Ken was shaking terribly as he prepared himself before casually saying, "I saw this in Brave."  
I watched him fail for the tenth time as he had to pull so many arrows out of the rocks. About three were washed away.

Felix was filling up an empty milk jug with water. The clear jug was now full of white, fresh, but still dirty, water from the stream. I rested on the log, slouching as my arm throbbed. It still lay lifelessly at my side. "Hey, Cassandra," Felix called. I let him know that he had my attention when I nodded, still watching Ken while doing so. "I have a container in there. It's the ones you see when you're buying milk. Can you get it, if you can?" 

He watched while I use my uninjured arm to find a plastic-like handle. I pulled it out, careful not to let any weapons of any sort to start falling out of the bag. Felix rushed over to receive it, and he quickly thanked me and went back to the edge of the stream."I GOT ONE!" screamed an excited Ken. His happy voice boomed throughout the forest, the sound bouncing off stone walls. This alerted me, as the sound was bound to attract unwanted enemies or blue bloods. I winced. His voice is so loud and deep.

"Shut the fuck up, Ken," Felix hissed. Realizing his mistake, Ken slowly stood up and held the impaled fish as it wiggled desperately to get off of the sharp object. I stood up slowly, slowly trailing my fingers over the sharp edge of my weapon in my bag. Felix set down one of the milk jugs, one half full and one completely filled.

As I hoped time would speed faster to eliminate this deafening silence to slowly wait if we hear a peculiar sound, I steadily kept my eye onto the trees. To be safer, my eyes trailed to my side of the forest. 

After an eternal silence, with the only sound being the wind and ruffling leaves, we heard small angry, inhumane growls. This is when I drew out my dagger. Ken dropped his fish into his own backpack and Felix had his own, scratched up dagger ready. The man with the bear hat prepared his bow and arrow. It was only a few growls. They had  venom producing from each sound. A lump formed in my throat and I had once realized that my own pale hands were shaking slightly, nervousness and fear. I mustered up all the courage to swallow the lump and waited for another growl, a rustle in the trees.

Two.

Two diseased creatures came sprinting out of those leaves, twisting and reaching their arms out. Their fingernails were long and their slender fingers outstretched with greed, just waiting to reach into my stomach and pull out any organ the beast could put its hands on. One headed toward Ken. Marzia told me about how he's a great gunman, and when he released those arrows, he planted one straight in the eye. His rotting hands curled tighter into his palms, as he nearly screamed in anger. The other creature sprinted fast towards me. 

 

Fear rose inside of me and the bile rose in my throat. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.  
My shaky breaths became louder as I kicked the thing in the chest. This never happened to me before! I've never done this. I'm gonna get myself killed. No, I don't want to die. I can't. My teeth chattered, and I felt like tears were springing up in my eyes. I could hear myself breathing heavily. Three more came running out, roaring with the same outstretched arms. The monsters looked human, so much, except they had the weird growl and shriek that sounded inhumane and gruesome. You die the most painful way by them. Their hands can easily rip through human flesh, and they pull out an organ and eat you piece from piece. I've never seen it unravel, but it was what I've heard when I used to wander aimlessly around the city.

My voice hitched in my throat as my eyes felt as if they'd well up with tears. He ran faster toward me after recovered from the push. I had ran to the side, him looking upward, almost confused. His eyes were lifeless, but to me they were filled with starvation. He was hungry, and he wanted to taste my flesh, my organs.

I gripped my dagger tightly, swallowing the giant lump that had formed in my throat and crammed my blade into his head. The thing fell backwards, hitting the dirt with a loud thud. I widened my eyes and breathed heavily. His stench . . .

  That was out of fear.

Fear does do interesting things to people, I'm sure of that. The corpse laying in front of me had a pool of plasma under its head and right away, the smell became even more horrible.

"Oh fuck," I whispered, anxiously as I shook off the thought of killing a diseased. I stopped my thoughts, slightly excited and more horrified.  
"Cassandra!" I heard that swedish voice holler as I froze in my spot. Two runners were running at full speed, right at me. I couldn't even move. Ken had to waste two arrows as one more monster sprinted horribly fast at him. He successfully shot him in the chest, but he let out another ear piercing scream.   
Felix rammed the blade into the side of the blue blood's head as I snapped out of my state. But Felix already beat me to the other monster that was slower than the others, reaching for me. The blonde practically ripped the weapon out of its skull and quickly inserted the blade into the throat of that monster. Thick, blackish-reddish blood oozed out, obviously disgusted, Felix let out a loud "ew".

I had once realized that Ken silenced the blue blood when he pulled the arrow out of its chest and pushed it into its sick, demented head. "Disgusting," I muttered. The red, sticky substance was splattered on my hands and face. I moved my arm a little, forgetting that it was throbbing and had a dark, purple tone to it. 

I hissed loudly, catching the two boys' attention. I put my other arm onto the bruise, or swollen arm. "I think they stopped coming," I murmured, looking up at their faces. "But I'm a little skeptical because of the thing that one just did." I pointed toward the corpse of the one Ken had stabbed in the heart when he let out a scream. I shuddered for a second, fear rising up once again and I choked the urge to throw back up.

I haven't seen any dead bodies, besides in movies. But that was makeup, and this was so real. Ken and Felix strolled over, joining me on the log.  
". . . I caught one fish so far. Thats obviously not enough for about seven people we have in our group, right?"

"We have six people," Felix corrected.

"No, you and Minx saved that one woman."  
"..." Felix sighed, obviously remembering saving that third person. At least they semi-lightened the mood. I gripped tightly onto the handle of my knife, like squeezing it would bring me any relief. The two stood up slowly, without exchanging a word, both of the men continued their task, glancing up once in a while to check the forest. Felix had successfully filled both of the jugs with water, all the way up to the top. He set them aside to rest by his own backpack.

Ken gradually became better, catching about two more fishes. I don't know how many he was going to get, but at least seven would probably last for all of us for maybe like a day. I've eaten sushi before and I'd prefer this over deer meat to be honest, and I felt slightly bad that I wasted a plate of meat. It probably looked delicious to the rest of the group, but it made my stomach clench in an uneasy way.  
"This should be enough," Ken stated tiredly. "I should be thanked. Catching fish without a fishing rod isn't easy."

I  stood up, scratching my head, and examined the fish Ken had successfully captured for food. A big part of me hoped he didn't catch like seven tiny fish, but that was a stupid thought. He had a smug grin on his face, and the big weight from his bag told me otherwise. In his backpack were about four trout fish and three salmon.

"Ken, you're pretty good at getting fish," I lightly laughed. "These types of fish are great." Ken stroked his chin in response, looking proud.  
"If you're up to it, Cassandra, you can carry this," Felix said, holding the now heavy water container. I nodded, not wanting to not actually help. After washing the memories of the dead down the drain, I put on one strap of my backpack, know my other arm would hurt terribly if I moved it while putting on the other strap.

♦ ♦ ♦

"FUCK!" I writhed, when I nearly dropped my bag and moved my arm too harshly to try and catch it. My voice sounded terrible, like a mixture of a scream and choking. When I fell to the ground, I landed on my knees, staring at the bandaged arm.

Soon enough, Ken grabbed the bag and smiled genuinely at me. "We'll take care of it when we get back to the camp. Just take it easy for now," Felix chimed in.

"Yeah. Your arm looks pretty bad. It looks like the bandages are falling."

So far, we were in the middle of the forest, barely any blue bloods. So far, we encountered one of them. I feel like they are more into the deeper side of the forest. The camp we had was set up had a fairly large, space with a few trees in the middle of it. Felix seemed to understand which direction where to go to after we left the stream with bloody, dead blue-bloods scattered around.

I can't believe I messed up climbing down a tree. I mean, I was basically a pro at that. I shook my head at the stupidity. It caused me a possibly broken arm or dislocated shoulder. I put myself into an agonizingly painful situation.

"We're here!" Felix beamed to us, spotting a woman with long, brown, hair and purple highlights. Michelle. She held small knives in her hand, getting into a starting position. She concentrated on a tree, and flicked her hands forward as the knives flew toward the tree. The knives bounced off, clinking against the bark and falling down on the grass.

She groaned loudly in annoyance and walked over to the fallen blades to pick them up. "Guess who's back," Ken said, thankfully in a voice that's loud but not so loud that it echoed across the entire forest. Michelle looked up.

"You're covered in blood. Did you guys kill people or something?"

"Like five diseased," Felix shrugged as he took off his back pack and dropped it straight onto the ground. One jug of water fell out.  
Michelle looked somewhat stunned. "Since when did we have milk cartons? That's a big amount of water for Marzia, Pewds."

Ken, who was holding two backpacks took the other container and showed Michelle the water, then the fishes he caught. She looked satisfied with the water and fishes, and her eyes trailed off to me.

"God, what happened to your arm?"

I pursed my lips, looking down at my blood covered feet, then at her. "I fell off a tree." Michelle's mouth turned up into a twitching grin, as if attempting not to laugh. Her face then went back to her neutral expression.

Felix excused himself. "I'm going to my tent, Minx, just bring Cassandra to the tent with Cry. Ken, put the backpacks and water somewhere."  
They did as they were told and Michelle looked at me, one hand on her hip as Ken took everything.  
"Come on," she smiled. Michelle skimmed her thumb over the shiny knives, and walked past the dying fire. I walked next to her, and we both passed the tent I slept in, and the exact spot where she carried the injured boy called "Cry".

We stopped at the tent, the one I was in just this morning as Felix announced that that was what his name was. Ken and Michelle were obviously surprised, seeing the boy. When we both entered, he was still there, that exact same spot, twitching and biting down on his lip.

"Cry has been like this for a while," Michelle said, sighing. "I have a feeling he's going to wake up soon. Lay there," she instructed, on the sleeping bag next to Cry.  
The woman gave a quick glance at me, before leaving. I sat on the rough blanket, and with my uninjured hand, I propped my chin onto it. A smile found its way onto my lips as I remembered the events from today and last night. Today, I could've died if it wasn't for Felix. Ken was friendly, very friendly. I sighed in relief.

I'm so glad that I was saved.


	6. Awakening

Chapter 5

 

I sighed sadly on my own sleeping bag. I had to stay here to rest a little before I could get up. I was made an arm sling and a splint, by Marzia's crafty skills. She had to use a thin blanket she had found, crammed in the corner of her tent to make one for me. She even had to use a box or something to help make the splint and use Felix's shoe laces to hold it together. Marzia wasn't a big doctor, or so she said. While she scrutinized my arm and elbow, she announced that it was apparently dislocated. Michelle excitedly came in and volunteered to get it back into place. Marzia had to guide her how to do it, before she proceeded. I though, seeing how bad it hurts was mortified when I heard my name in a sentence with the words: push her elbow back into place.

And yes, I tried to disagree but then, Marzia called Felix and Ken in to hold me down while Michelle proceeded to yank on my arm as I struggled horribly. There was nothing to bite onto, so while Felix and Ken pushed down on my shoulders and Ken had his arm around my mouth, I had no choice but to bite down on it to make me feel somewhat better.

Through it I heard Ken yelp in pain and him saying something like, "That's not gonna make me let go, Cassy!" I heard his voice strain through it. Felix on the other hand, laughed a little. As Michelle kept yanking on my arm, I felt a metallic taste drop on my taste buds, which obviously meant that Ken was bleeding from me biting down too hard on his arm. I didn't even know I was crying until I saw the droplets drip on my leg. When I heard bones crack, my vision instantly went black and I felt my body go limp, which meant I had passed out. 

I woke up in the tent with my arm feeling extremely sore. Thankfully it didn't hurt as agonizing as it did when it was fresh and dislocated when I had crashed onto the compacted ground. While I stared at it, I saw a new contraption on it, which was the splint and sling Marzia had crafted. God damn. 

 

 I'm glad that my arm hurts less now. It's pretty much laying there, on the cloth. I let out a heavy sigh, staring out into the crack of the tent, just where the sky was pitch black. Barely any stars lit it up. 

 

Stupid elbow.

Felix was the one who came into check on me a lot and usually glanced over at the other guy who was sleeping. He offered me dinner, which was the fish that his friend had been busy hunting just this morning. I accepted unsurely as he brought it in. When I had put the first bite in my mouth, my tastebuds exploded with flavor. Felix probably noticed my face and snickered at that. The corner of his lips kept twitching, as if trying to conceal a smile, and a small snicker had escaped before he covered up his mouth with his pale hand. I was still chewing the trout, not caring at his laughter. Though, eating with one arm did not make anything any easier. I hold down the plate with one of my hands, but I couldn't now because of, of course, my elbow. 

The food vanished shortly after, and all that was left were the bone remains of trout. The swede had taken my paper plate and walked away, probably to have Marzia clean and reuse it.

"Before you came to that lab, what were you doing before?" he had asked me. I tapped my chin, recalling the memories I had.  
"I was a nerd, and still am, I guess," I said. "I had my own apartment, but it wasn't anywhere near good quality because the world sucks. My job was  basically being a pet. I was forced into it after I was being threatened. They chose me for some reason because I had the highest IQ score of the area. That's their only reason, apparently. I had to pickpocket, which I hated doing. I got caught quite a few times, which sent me into big trouble. I was getting called 'Slicker' a lot after that. I hated that term, because it sounded stupid to me. Each task I was given was risky because I'd have to be stealthy sometimes while I stole the items the person needed. I left that area when I suddenly realized that the leftover pickpocketing money gave me something I needed. So, I almost became free, but that was the day when I was taken by the government and taken to the lab."

I paused for a brief moment to rest my chin on my hand and continued, "I still never finished the mission I had to do before." Felix had his lips pursed as he drummed his fingers lightly over his knees. "He's probably furious with me, not getting him any valuable coins."

The silence surrounded us, and the boy shivering in his sleep. My eyes felt like they were getting heavier and heavier. I was so close to drifting off and seeing the darkness through my eyelids, but I sat up straight every time I felt myself starting to sleep. Felix seemed as if he was pondering my story because of the way his face looked. His eyes were clouded with wonder and his fingers slowly clenched into light fists. My voice sliced through his pondering moments like a sharp blade.

"What about you?" I had asked, very sleepily. Felix's eyes darted upward, after the silence was immediately broken. "How did you and Ken meet?" I already knew this, about him finding Ken and Felix getting knocked out, but I wanted to know from his point of view. Felix hummed a bit before he ran his fingers through his sand colored hair.  
"We've actually known each other for a while. Back when I wasn't extremely popular and the government wasn't a jerk, I had a contest and Marzia chose the winners. Ken was one of them. We talked a lot, then we became good friends. We still were when my channel became more popular," he replied.

Oh, well, that wasn't the answer I was expecting. I stared back at him blankly. "I meant, how you two met when the new laws were applied."  
Felix's eyes widened a little before he talked loudly in a clear, surprised tone. "Oh!"  
"Marzia and I came here to go to a meet and greet, but that was the worst time the outbreak started and soldiers were coming out and fighting. We were both in a hotel room then, and we watched them shooting random people. Strangely enough, The fighting stopped almost after a day. Marzia and I were kicked out after some soldiers came to find those things and kill them. After that, we lived homeless on the streets for a few days. It was hard to find food." 

He stopped to take a deep breath before continuing. "We lived when Marzia and I decided to go for a run and attempt to steal money, even though both of us felt uncomfortable to do it. Then, we ran into Ken. He was still wearing his bear hat, and seemed actually pretty terrified. When I was about to talk to him, the next thing I know, my face was hurting really bad and Marzia kept shaking me. It hurt for a while, but then it wore off and only began hurting when you touched it. Then, we went to a different place. We saw some Red Soldiers there, then they . . ." Felix trailed off, his eyes losing some happiness.  
"They shot a lot of kids in front of their parents. It was horrible, I'm not gonna lie. Everyone walked away like nothing bad happened. After that, there were some Red Soldiers guarding the testing lab. A few of them were sneaking away with patients holding their hands. People started talking about them on the street. They called them heroes and stuff. I decided to train to become a Red Soldier, and waited for the right day where I was strong enough to be a Dark Soldier." Felix finished, not mentioning Michelle.

Suddenly, I started drifting off as he finished. The blonde stood up and I heard him laugh a bit. "I'm gonna leave now. Marzia probably wants me," he said before he exited the injured tent.   
As soon as my head hit the pillow, I became asleep, the thoughts of Felix, Marzia, and Ken, suddenly meeting in the same place.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

I woke up to a loud sound. The sounds of heaving, choking and, yelling, all mixed into one. I shot upward and snapped my head to the side, staring at the now awake patient who was coughing up blood and pressing his pale palms deep into the ground. His sleeves were no longer connected. Both his sleeves were jagged at the ends. It meant that the man had somehow managed to rip them apart. A shiny object looked as if it was thrown carelessly to the side and only then I realized that it was the mask that hid half of his face. Blood was piling on top of the ground and he kept breathing heavily.

I quickly stood up the best as I could while using one arm before I started yelling for someone. "Michelle! Michelle! Ken! Felix!" I widened my eyes, staring as he coughed harder. He used his arm to raise it up to his mouth and wipe the red liquid onto his white sleeve. Black, stray hair clung to his forehead. I caught sight of clear beads of sweat attached to it. I didn't know what to do, in all honesty. His violent hacking did not stop as thicker amounts of blood spilled helplessly from his mouth, staining his teeth and the skin around his cracked lips.

"Cassandra-what's wro-?" that familiar, female, british accent rang loud into my ears. She ran quickly into the tent with a knife gripped tightly in her hold. "Oh my God!" She poked her head out of the tent, screaming certain names. I heard an unfamiliar name, which caused me to look up. I shook my head, not caring about that now. This was a much more important matter. I bolted over to the coughing man, not knowing exactly what to do.

He didn't look once at me. His focus was on the pool of plasma on the ground. Michelle kept yelling. The boy's head kept tilting backwards, then jerking back forward as he opened his mouth and more crimson slid down his tongue and sloshed out of his mouth. I felt a presence on both sides of me, which just so happened to be Marzia and an unfamiliar person on my side. She had a bandage over her neck and it was soaked with blood. Her hair was black and wavy. The woman's eyes caught mine and we stared at each other with both a questioning look on our faces before we stared at the man who still did not stop coughing. The woman beside me spoke up.

"Get him on his back," she said in a panic. I didn't know him, but Marzia seemed to a little bit. She said something I couldn't hear as she started to push him onto his back. I helped a little, seeing as he was struggling. The bruises and cuts all over his tired face was easier to see now that he was laying flat. The coughing almost stopped, until he shot back up and began to cough once again.

The black-haired woman hissed. "Shit! Marzia, get your emergency stuff! Hurry!"

"You got it!" she instantly replied before getting up and running out of the tent. Michelle had disappeared so I assume that she might be guarding or something. Felix had bolted in here so quick I jumped up from the sudden figure that popped up in my sight.

His dirty blonde, straggly strands of hair stuck out in all directions. The headphones that he wore were not resting on his neck. Tired bags were obvious on his eyes as he came over to inspect the patient. Now, he was wheezing. His eyes darted from one person to the next and his chest would not stop lifting up and down.

"Valeria, what's going on?" Felix spoke up as he stared at the boy. His eyes were wide. "Fuck," I heard him murmur. The woman-whose name that I just found out was Valeria- leaned back so that she was now on her knees and sitting onto her heels.

"He's very skinny. He might be sick," she muttered, her hand placed onto his head.

"I have it!" Marzia exclaimed as she busted into the tent with a white, plastic box. She tossed it over and it spun around in the air for a bit before Valeria caught it and slammed open the box. She extended her fingers and rubbed them together before searching through the box for certain medicines.

I had been quiet for a while, so I thought that it was my turn to talk. "Are you a doctor?" Valeria looked up at me, her eyebrows narrow.   
"I was a children's doctor before. I know a lot more than that though." Her hands picked up bandages before she set them down and empty, orange bottles. The patient was breathing so heavily.

"I think he might have been affected by the lab. He was different, right?" Marzia slowly said, seeming as if she was afraid to say that.  
"Which meant he probably had different tests," I muttered to her. Felix sat quietly as he listened to our conversation. Valeria suddenly lowered her head and put her ear on the boy's chest.

". . . Hm. One of the tests might have made him cough up that much blood. I've heard it before. People were hacking up blood in different cells because of a certain test. I would've thought the kid had tuberculosis," she murmured. "The test he probably had affected him this badly. He needs water."

Marzia rose to her feet, starting to walk out of her tent and retrieve some water. His wheezing was faint and his blood splattering coughing fit had ended as well.

She came back and I sat there, cross-legged with a finger on my lips. I pondered for a few seconds before returning back to reality.  
"Sir um, Cry? You should take take some of this," Valeria said softly, a few pills in the palm of her hand.  
The boy sat up, his hair covering his eyes so I couldn't see much. A plastic bottle full of water was given to him and he slowly took it and the medicine. His fingertips wrapped around the bottle weakly and I heard quiet groans come from him. 

He opened the bottle and tipped it into his mouth before chugging it quickly and popping the pills into his mouth as well. Everyone awkwardly watched as he gulped down the whole bottle and dropped it onto the bloody puddle before he gingerly wiped his mouth.

"Cry!" Felix suddenly spoke, his eyes wide as the man looked up. His breathing was slow and ragged.  
"Why am I here?" he mumbled. Typical question. We all backed away a little to give him some space as he was already uncomfortable. 

"You were being experimented on," Felix replied. I was just about to open my mouth until a certain someone burst into the tent with a surprised look on his face.

"Cry! Cry! Are you alright!?" he gasped, eyes wide with his arms still holding the tent. Cry looked up and stared at him. Cry's eyes were sapphire blue. It was those types of eyes that I wished I had. Felix had blue eyes as well, except they were grey-blue. He looked up, his lips opened partially.

"Ken," he murmured softly and looked around at us. His eyes lingered on Marzia for a moment before he looked on over at me and they stopped.  
His eyes then moved on to Valeria until he looked back at Felix. 

 

I pressed my lips together and looked downward at my arm. "You look like shit. I don't know what happened to you but you seriously need some time to heal," Felix shook his head. The guy, Cry's mouth twitched a little as if holding the need to smile but as soon as it appeared, it faltered.

Slowly, I stood up and walked back to my own spot on the sleeping bag as the two medics at the moment began to examine the boy's cuts and bruises. "Cry, oh man. You don't know how lucky you that you turned up here," Ken grinned. Cry nodded slowly.

"I know. I thought I was dead," he said in a calm voice, like he didn't just cough up some blood. I sat down on the spot, slouching as I listened intently to their conversation. Nobody really cared that I came back over here as they were too busy working on the injured person.   
I stared at the ground.

This "Cry" guy. He has had a history with "PewDiePie", Ken, and "Minx". Ken has told me that he was a Youtuber, and that they wasn't as popular as Felix but they were good friends. 

 I barely noticed Ken and Felix leaving until I looked up and saw only Marzia and Valeria dabbing his face with cotton balls and putting on bandages. I was just sitting here, looking like an idiot and looking at the ground. 

"Done," Marzia piped. 

"Aw man, that was easier than expected," Valeria chirped as well. She slowly bent down to pick up the plastic bottle and twisted it a bit. There was blood smeared all over the side. I saw her face twitch in disgust.

Cry was scratching the back of his head, his face was covered with so many bandages. Valeria sighed.  
"How do you not run out of water bottles?" she asked as she turned to face Marzia.

"I clean the bottle with warm water," she replied, her voice seeming slightly chipper. Valeria crossed her arms.  
"Ah, I should've known. Sorry. That was pretty stupid of me to ask," she chuckled.

"Isn't that girl- Oh, what's her name? Minx, Michelle? What? I get confused at their different names,"  she wondered aloud, tapping her chin.

"It doesn't really matter," Marzia said back. Valeria put one hand on her hip.  
"She's on watch right? Maybe I should take watch, too. You know, repay her for rescuing me."

Marzia nodded. "That's a nice way. She's been on watch almost ever since we came here. I thought she might have passed out soon."  
"Well, you, you and you should get some sleep. Those other two men might be sleeping, too." Valeria looked at Marzia, Cry, then at me.

She left with Marzia trailing behind her and I watched their figures disappear before dropping on my back, feeling awkward now that there was somebody else, awake and aware of me here. The thing too was that he was a few feet away from me. 

I closed my eyes. Will I ever be able to fall asleep now? I really wish that someone carried me to my own tent so I can sleep there. I never slept in the same room with someone, or, tent. The urge to sigh was held back when I tightly held my lips together. If he was awake he might strike up a conversation and I didn't really want that to happen.

 

 ♦ ♦ ♦

 

"That woman. She has a big ass stack of money in her pocket. I want you to get it, Slicker," Ronald commanded. His blonde hair was cut into an undercut which was quite handsome for his looks. I would've had taken a liking to him if it wasn't for his ominous demeanor and barking orders. His chocolate brown eyes trailed down to meet my own emerald ones. A greedy smile appeared on his lips.   
Ronald was older. He was at least thirty years old, with only minor wrinkles on his face. Nevertheless, I could tell some poor girls who happened to see him swooned with a massive red blush on their faces.

I bit my lip, nodding fast. "Report it to me. It must have at least five hundred dollars in it. It might be enough to buy some food around here," he slowly and quietly said the last part. Ronald's head perked up as he stared out into the open streets, both of us in a nearby alley. The woman he was referring too had silky, black wavy hair. She was talking to a man with hair dyed blue, which was very strange looking to me.  The woman had a genuine smile on her face, a cigarette lit up between her fingers.

"Listen to me!" I heard, then felt a severe blow to my stomach which made me double over in pain. Ronald hissed, shaking out his hand. "Do it. For a bonus, I might give you some cash if you get any extra money," he snickered, running his hands through his blonde mess.

I sighed, my arms curled around my abdomen. "Yeah, I got it." Ronald stepped closer to me and shoved me a bit, which made me stumble out in the open, falling on my butt. I turned my head and gave a small look at him, his menacing gaze and taunting smile, telling me to go get the shit fast. Shivering, I turned back around and put on my black hood and rested my black shades on the bridge of my nose. My lips trembled a bit but I quickly stepped more out on the sidewalk, then sprinted across the street, bumping into a few people.

The street was wide open, thick cracks in it and trucks of produce slowly driving down. The fruits and vegetables we usually got had trucks carry them into town into certain food shops. The logo on the truck was an older man with a look in his eyes that said, 'I'm so much richer than you'. He held a woven basket full of grapes, celery, and other fruits or vegetables.   
It was strange how there was still rich people in this world. Money still existed, and majority of the citizens were poor as hell. Yeah, like me. A person with a high IQ could've finished college, gotten rich and saved so much money. No, I wasn't that person. Rich people live in a much cleaner city. Well, yes, it was still grimy where they lived but it had less junk in there than here.  
I stared upward, intimidating looks staring into one another. I glance over at some men and women. Tough, aren't they? I stood on the concrete, staring at some shops near me. Tattoo parlors or abandoned apartments with disgusting weed growing all over. I looked from side to side, searching for the woman. Thankfully, I found her, ready to get this crappy job done with.

The woman was just a few feet away from me. I eyed the brown wallet with thick dollars in it. Slowly and carefully, I took out my arm, reaching into her back pocket.

"Next week, they're picking even more people for the experiments," she said.  
"I have such a bad feeling about it, like I might be chosen now," she nervously said again.

"You know what I don't understand? Kids aren't supposed to be alive. The population will be extinct soon."

 "I've heard that they are allowing thirteen year olds and older to stay alive."

While carefully listening to their conversation, I quickly snatched up the wallet, careful not to make sure any of the edges touched her so that she felt a light tap. I clutched onto it, tightly and sped-walked away. The alley was empty so I assumed that Ronald was back at his apartment or something. The sky was dark and the wind whispered into my face, playing with my locks of hair. Footsteps clouded my hearing as they walked passed me. I looked back in front of me. A wallet filled with small amounts of coins and dollars was enough for me. I slowly took that out of a black-haired man's pocket. There was something white in front of his face and a strand of long hair sticking upward. I didn't mind that as I ran away with the money back to Ronald.

 ♦ ♦ ♦

 

"Agh," I groaned, staring at my hurting arm. Besides me, the boy from yesterday in a deep sleep. What's different is that his attire changed from completely mental, white suit, to a light purple shirt, (or bluish shirt, I couldn't tell) with fists all over the shirt and a completely black, large, breast pocket. It seemed slightly large for him. It showed off his arms though. He had large bruises and healing cuts all over them. And he wore black sweatpants. He looked genuinely scared while he was sleeping. That white. shiny mask piece was still on the side of his sleeping bag. 

New day, more changes coming, right?

My emotionless eyes darted around, searching for the exit. I went over to it and went out, the orange rays of the sun temporarily filling my vision before I finally could see the camp grounds again. I could only see that other woman with a gun clutched in her hand as she waltzed around tents. Ken as usual was sitting near the fire, throwing twigs and cold leaves into the flames. His pale face was tired and bored. What time was it? Did it even matter at all? The cold wind brushed against my face and blew my hair around. I lifted my hand to push my hair back behind my ear.

It was fall, so of course it would be chilly. Quietly, I approached Ken. He saw me and looked up, waving to me. I waved back before sitting down across from him. The warmth of the fire heated my body which I was extremely thankful for.  
 

I saw Marzia speed-walk past us, like she was hurriedly trying to get something. Suddenly she stopped and rushed over to me with a water bottle in her hand. "Uh . . . Cassandra!" she spoke, looking back and forth at me and Ken.

"Wha?" I jumped back a little. She shoved the plastic bottle in my hand before running off.   
"Can you get this to Cry? I'll be back with food and everything else!" she said quickly.

I looked at Ken, who only shrugged at me. "Go give it to him," he simply said.

I stood up and unsurely walked over to the injured tent, figuring he's asleep. To my surprise, he's sitting on the edge of the sleeping bag with half of that mask on. His pale fingertips gently touch the edge of the white bandages on his bruised face. I pressed my lips together before clearing my throat loud enough to earn his attention.

His head quickly snapped around, looking at me with blue eyes. His eyebrow was narrowing, indicating that he was almost irritated but soon after it faded, giving me a nervous look. I strolled over to him, handing him the bottle of water before kneeling down, looking up at him.

"Hi, um, I'm Cassandra."

 

Author's Note

 

I'm sorry, children. D:

The next chapter will probably be very boring, because, well, I had writer's block the time I wrote it.  
Also, the "purple shirt with fists all over them" is actually one of the shirts Pewdie had in his shop in case you haven't noticed~ ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, please leave kudos or a positive comment!  
> If you didn't, you can leave your comment as well, just no downright INSULTING!


	7. Cry

  
_Tap . . ._  
 _Tap . . ._  
 _Tap . . ._  
  
I kept tapping my fingernail against my own tent, humming as well as I stared up at the ceiling.  
A while ago, Valeria came in here, making me do some arm exercises. Thankfully, my arm wasn't that bad. It was like, day six or so. For now, I relaxed, my dark eyes baring holes into the peak of the tent.  
I picked up the dagger on the side of my sleeping bag, the blade coated in dried up blood, dark and cringe-worthy. My ticket that saved me from one death.  
  
I sat up, looking at the blade glinting in the sunlight before looking at the exit of my tent. Then, I set down the blade and put it under my pillow before heading off.  
  
I trusted these guys. They were the ones who saved me.  _Me._    
The weakling who sucked at killing things that were killing me. The coward.  
  
But the other poor test subjects. I wondered if Michelle and Felix were aiming for a larger result, but that would've been impossible. Two people, who could only save three others. I'd say that's kind of impressive. But out of over two hundred people, how could I possibly become so lucky? To be one of the three people saved. But- now that I think about it, I should be grateful. It's also possible that other Dark Soldiers had saved a few test subjects.  
  
"I haven't rested for a long time," a certain person mumbled. I spun around, rubbing my own brown, messy head. Michelle, with her purple highlights and brown hair tangled together, laughed after her one sentence. Her tangled locks fell over here eyes which she tucked away behind her ear, grinning ear-to-ear when she saw me.  
"Cassandra. How's your arm?" she asked, her eyes trailing down to my nearly healed limb.   
  
"Better," I responded. I looked down at my plain black, long-sleeved shirt that Marzia gave me, claiming that she didn't need it anymore. She was generous and polite.  
  
  
* * *  
  
"Hey Cry," Felix beamed when he dragged me into the medical tent. I pressed my lips together, staring blankly at the masked man. He sat up, a lopsided grin on his face.  
  
"What do you want?" he asked, but the grin faded when he saw me.  
  
"U-Uh, hello," he unsurely said.  
"This is Cassandra. How are you holding up?" he asked, walking closer to him. He sat down, patting the seat beside me to sit down. I did anyway, propping my chin on my hand.  
  
"I feel . . . great," he responded quietly, his head slightly down. He looked back up at Felix. His hands were folded neatly in his lap. Cry looked back and forth between us. I didn't really know what to do, Felix just brought me along with him to, "get to know him better". Felix looked just so extremely happy. He couldn't stop smiling and he was eager to get Valeria and me to talk to the guy, who right now looked so overwhelmed.  
  
"I'm not puking blood anymore. Or, not yet anyway," he told him, scratching the back of his neck.   
  
"Cassandra, tell Cry about yourself," Felix smiled. I can just see him jumping in excitement. I sent a narrowed eye look at him, but then averted my gaze back to the boy who just looked at me.  
  
"I'm twenty-five," I said, looking unsurely at Felix.   
Cry looked at me, his head tilted ever so slightly. His jaw was clenched and I could almost see his cheeks flush in embarrassment. He looked  _really_ uncomfortable.  
"N-Nice to meet you," he stuttered for a second, but regained his composure.  
  
I sat cross-legged on the floor of the tent as Felix then started talking to Cry again. I paid no mind, just blanking out the talking for a few moments.   
"Hey-Um, Cry, have you ever . . . seen blue-bloods up close? Or attack them?" the young man asked. He fumbled with his fingers, staring as the raven-haired man just slouched, staring at his bandaged feet.  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes. I remember like . . . Kind of, using a screwdriver," he muttered, hand gesturing a bit, trying to concentrate more on the swedish than me. "I was screaming, but I kept stabbing him in the head. I don't remember where I was. But around me were  _screams._  A lot of them."  
  
It was just Felix trying to strike up different conversations with the masked man, but because of me entering, his voice was quieter. Then, the three of us went out to the campfire.  
  
"I'm sorry if he made you uncomfortable," I told Cry, almost in the same, quiet tone of his. He looked down at his lap, twiddling his thumbs and constantly opening his mouth. But, he ended up closing it. I tucked a few stray strands of brown hair behind my ear, gaining the warmth of the flames. There were a few minor shrieks of pain or terror in the distance but I did my best to ignore the sound.  
  
"It's cool," he finally said, letting his head hang. He slowly looked up at me, his black hair blowing with the breeze, and gave me a faint smile.  
  
"Cassandra!" Ken's voice called as I just was beginning to get up. Ken approached me, jogging as he did so, a jackknife in his hands. "Come with me, I needa teach you something." He looked over his shoulder at me while running towards the middle of the tents, the bonfire burning. I stood, Cry looking at me before averting his gaze and clutching onto the armrests.  
  
I ran after the man, him next to the burning flames. "I realized how important this was . . . Okay, so, first of all, think about if you're trapped in the wilderness, alone, no supplies except for a weapon-"  
  
"Why do I have only a weapon?" I ask, an eyebrow raised. Ken shook his head, putting a finger up. He gives a small 'tch'.  
  
"Because, if you let me finish, any smart person would always bring something to defend themselves-"  
  
"But, if I'm in the wilderness, I could walk around and possibly scavenge for berries, fruits, follow animal tracks-"  
  
"Hey, hey, we don't need logic at the moment," he said, glaring at me. "Anyway, it's freezing, and you need to make some warmth for yourself to survive. But you don't know how to make a fire. You're already screwed, my toasty friend." He shook his head getting a bundle of oak wood twigs and branches.  
  
"Leaves," he says, looking around before hurrying to a leafless tree and picking up the crumbling, brown and red leaves under it. "Use them for tinder, very, very important," he nods. "Use them to fuel your fire." He takes them, goes over to me and places the sticks he had in an 'x'.  
  
He babbled on and on about how to start a fire, telling me what I need, what I should and should not do, I basically dozed off during it while rocking back and forth on my knee.  
  
"And that," he said, quite proudly, actually. "Is how, you, make a fire."  
I slowly clapped.  
  
He snickered. "Hey, but you still need to be useful around here. Or you'll die soon, Cass," he said, turning suddenly serious. The bearded man looked around him, watching as Marzia and the black haired girl-Valeria- walk alongside each other, both carrying buckets of water.  
  
"Medical stuff and cleaning, Marzia usually does that. But after Marzia patched up Valeria, she helped Marzia. Told her how to improve, and helped clean a bit."  
  
"When was this?"  
  
"While your elbow was dislocated." I slanted my eyes, remembering that incident.  
  
"Felix and I hunt, get the food. It's already late in the season to grow some crops and besides, I suck at that. Minx is usually finding supplies, getting anything useful. Random cloths, bandages, some bloody clothes, guns, anything. She risks a lot."  
  
I pursed my lips. "What about when this place fails? What happens when we see a crowd of . . . those diseased or whatever they are?" Ken gave me a blank look, his eyes looking down at the small flames.  
  
"Hey uh, let's not think that yet, alright? Felix and I are still figuring that out." Ken cleared his throat.  
  
I looked down at my lap, wondering what I should do, what I should be. Just . . . clean? Maybe?  
  
A long pause happened before Ken cracked a smile. "Well, you're done! That's basically it. Just a tip. I'll tell you some other survival tips that I can remember. Someday though."  
  
I got off of my knees and stretched a bit because of how long I stayed in that position.   
  
Gotta be useful, hm?  
  
I can do that.  
  
* * *  
  
There were paper plates slathered with food stains. I bit my lip, slightly disgusted. That woman, Valeria stood near me, her black, thick hair kept flying, which irked me because I could not pull off that pose with my own hair flying in the wind. I made a small, irritated face.  
  
"Okay," she began, her chocolate eyes blinking. Valeria got the jug of water, pouring it onto the disgusting plate. "It's really simple," she shrugged. "Pour water onto the plate, clean it, reuse it, repeat the process. We don't have soap. Marzia used it all for the first few days."   
  
I scrubbed the plates with my bare hands, (disgusting, I know) and poured water on them, doing exactly what the woman next to me was doing. "You're very pretty," Valeria complimented, her smile decorating her face. Goddamn, how does she pull off that smile?   
  
"Thank you, you too," I said, unsure. She grabbed another one of the filthy paper plates.   
  
"How old are you again?" she asked, turning slightly to fully look at me. I looked at her flawless face. Void of any blemishes and facial hair. I cursed silently.  
  
"Twenty four, how bout' you?" I asked, taking another plate and cleaning it.   
  
"Twenty-nine," she replied. "I'm old, right?" She laughed like it was nothing. I gawked at her, my eye twitching as she looked so young.  
"But you look so young," I accidentally murmured out loud.  
  
"Aw, thanks!" she said, patting my back.   
  
I pressed my lips together but continued washing the plates. God dammit. 

  
  
  
  



	8. A Stupid Idea

"Wha-" Michelle stuttered, backing away. 

"What?" I inquired.

Felix snaked around us, looking at whatever it was that was in front of us. Me, being the shortest person, I literally had to keep hopping to see the commotion.

"Oh my-" Felix turned, holding a hand over his mouth. "I can't-"

I made a confused face. What? Unsurely, I stepped out from behind the tall woman, and immediately, I regretted it. A rotting corpse was laying in our path. There was a bullet in its head and large boot footsteps were on the ground near it. I took a closer look, scrutinizing the skeleton.

It was a kid. A freaking child. The kid had brown hair, reaching behind its neck. He couldn't possibly be any older than ten. The smell was worse. It was the smell of death and some kind of roadkill that was left out on the road for days, heating up under a hot sun. I stood there, wide eyed and ran over to the side, holding the tree bark.

Before I could stop myself, my lips parted and my stomach contents bursted from my throat. I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop the pain. Doing so, I also wiped the edges of my mouth. My stomach twisted up and groaned at me.

"Ah- fuck," I groaned, writhing. The putrid smell still wafted up into my nostrils and I felt myself tip forward for a second round of vomiting. I felt disgusted. The vomit on the ground did not help at all.

"Jesus Christ," Michelle hissed from near us. Felix shuffled around the corpse.  
As I looked up, I saw him pinching his nose and making a disgusted face at the revolting corpse. The poor kid though. W.I.O is more likely to have killed the boy, judging by the footsteps.

Those heartless fuckers, I seethed.  
Slowly, I recovered from my vomiting fit and stared at the crew. "Poor kid, " I wheezed, shaking my head at my attempt to speak. Cry nodded.

"He looks so young," Felix commented, his eyebrows knitting together. "I can't look at this." He quickly averted his gaze from the corpse and looked straight ahead. "Let's move. We can probably get more useful supplies if we hurry before dark."

Disregarding the poor kid, we all shook our heads and followed behind Felix.

* * *

By the time that gruesome incident was erased from our minds, we found a blood-covered backpack in the middle of the road, human remains on the side. "Oh dear," Cry murmured, holding up the strap of the bloody book bag. Michelle turned around, making a disgusted face.

"Anything useful in there?" Cry stared at her, then shrugged. He then proceeded to unzip the bag, and search inside. 

"Sandwiches. In saran wrap!" he said cheerfully. "Erm . . . there's a bit of blood on the plastic," he said, holding up the sandwich.

"How many sandwiches?" Felix asked. Cry looked into the bag again.

"Two and some leftover plastic wrap. They're grilled cheese."

I groaned. Michelle and Felix groaned along with me. "I won't eat," Felix said. "Not hungry." He stepped farther away. His lie was proved when we heard his stomach growl loudly. The blonde looked at his stomach, then looked up at us with a weak smile.

The two others laughed. "Aw man, I won't eat it," the raven haired man said, he looked up at the group. He scanned over us. 

"Let's let the ladies have it," Felix said, gesturing toward the sandwiches. Michelle blushed playfully.

"Aw, such gentlemen," she gushed, putting a hand to her cheek. Then she averted her gaze over to me. "Wouldn't you think so, Cassy?"  
This is stupidly hilarious, I thought. "Yes," I simply said as she bowed her head.

"Yes, all we need is some wine and delicious grapes . . . " she giggled, flipping her brown-purple hair dramatically. "Oh, sir PewDiePie, would you mind? Oh would you please hand me that delightful sandwich?" The woman batted her eyelashes, smiling. I shook my head, chuckling in disbelief.

Felix, gladly joined in. He bowed forward, taking the sandwich from Cry's hand and held it out for the brunette to get. She smiled delightfully. "What gentlemen they are." Her gaze went over to me. "Another sandwich for my . . . royal friend, please?" She placed her free hand over her chest, pressing against her heart. "Sir Cryaotic, would you please hand over a sandwich for my friend, Cassandra?" Her eyelashes batted again. 

"This is so stupid," he commented. He took a sandwich and handed it over to me, not doing anything fancy. He just grinned goofily.

"Thanks," I muttered. He didn't say a thing and returned to his spot. Felix patted him on the back.

"Come on. You guys eat the food and rub it in our faces."

Cry set down the backpack and kicked it. "Nothing left! Just some empty ol' plastic wraps." Felix gave a thumbs-up. proceeding on.

Michelle hurriedly unwrapped hers and tossed the plastic on the dirt. She dug her teeth into the sandwich and I watched her face light up happily. "Hell yeah," she whispered. Another stomach growl.

"God dammit," a deep voice said. "Stop that." He glared at Minx, who just ate her sandwich quickly.   
I unwrapped my sandwich, and took a bite. It was as good as it looked, actually. We walked on to a completely different route, away from camp. At that time, our sandwiches were gone, leaving nothing but crumbs and trash. Well, crumbs for Michelle since she left her plastic wrap behind.

"What the . . ." Felix trailed off, looking at something in the distance. I looked over his shoulder, realizing it was a large, abandoned building. "Holy fuck! Minx, we found it! I don't know how but we did!" the swede exclaimed, running toward it. Michelle had a surprised look in her eyes. Very.

"What?" I murmured. "What is this place?" I asked to no one in particular. The older woman glanced at me, then looked back toward the building. The building was a rusty red color. Creepy-looking and all. The windows were fogged up and some of them were even broken. What the hell even is that? A factory or some shit? Michelle crossed her arms, a smirk appearing on her lips.

"We came here before, exploring because we were being stupid. Three of us were there. Suddenly, a blue-blood comes out and attacks one of our friends . . ." she trailed off, her face turning ghostly white. "Sh-She got eaten. Poor Ken was fucked up after . . . " she trailed off after 'she got eaten'.

Ken?

"Wait, who was she?" I blurted, wide-eyed. Michelle shook her head, looking up again.

"His wife."

Why wasn't that mentioned to me?  
Well, why would someone mention a tragic incident like that?

"Anyway, we lost a lot of supplies here. I don't know if we can find it but Pewds here wants to. Let's be careful and not die," she nodded, turning her nose away from us and walking toward the man. My stomach twisted in fear.

God dammit. I just wanted to live normally. Was that so much to ask? Now what? If I don't help, I'll die out here. I can't just go back to camp on my own. I don't even remember what path we took.

". . . got a bad feeling 'bout this," Cry murmured besides me.

Same here . . . same here.

I jogged over to Michelle until I finally was side to side with her. The building peeked over the leafless trees, towering over the forest. Felix kept going for it, running as fast as he could toward it. I could already see that there was another building near it and a bridge connecting to the other side. 

"That's where we lost it," Michelle said, pointing at the building across from the first one. She averted her eyes from the building to me, flashing a smile. "We had a shit ton of stuff and we had to drop them cause they were so heavy."

I looked at the place in awe. "Why the hell would you be in here? That place looks so creepy," I muttered. Michelle shrugged.  
"Like I said before, we were being stupid because we were curious." She gave me another small smile. 

We came closer to the building, it becoming larger and larger.

Felix finally turned around, grinning at us. "Come on, let's get it!" He clicked on his flashlight and approached the door with a danger sign on it. Well, isn't that great? Just what I wanted! To go into a creepy, abandoned building with a "danger" sign on it. Felix, you're a fucking genius.  
We entered the building one at a time, Felix first, then Minx, then Cry, then me. The blonde was the one who notified us that it was ominously empty.  
"There's another building connected to this," Minx told us. Her quiet voice seemed to echo off the walls, which startled me. The slightest sound could trigger anything. When someone's flashlight pointed at the wall, I saw remaining white paint, peeling and revealing the original color of the building- a dull grey.  The beam of light snapped somewhere else, ahead of us. As we headed deeper into the darkness, the air became thicker and dustier and harder to breathe. Trillions of tiny dust particles were now visible thanks to the shining light. None of us had to be told to cover our mouths. I cupped my pale hand around my mouth and around my nostrils, just enough to inhale my own personal air. I hated the dust. I hated the dark. I hated everything in this place.   
At once as the dust crept into my mouth and nose, I coughed horrendously. There were small murmurs of, "You okay?" and I nodded, forgetting that my group probably could not see me. I didn't even know where we were. I just spotted the lighting and followed it. Once, my foot stepped into some cold liquid and being me, I involuntarily squeaked and made an inhuman sound. Yanking my foot out I shook as much of it off and shuddered at the frigid feeling of the unknown substance. Like most abandoned buildings, there were mouse squeaks all around. You'd find a rat or some sort of rodent holed up in here, scurrying around the rusting floors. The usually quiet squeaks of these animals have turned into loud music at a club. Finally, there was a sound other than the screaming sounds of mice and rats.  
"Wait a second, okay?" Minx said aloud. At her voice, our footsteps stopped. We all listened. "We're gonna have to find a door."  
"Wow, well what do you know? It's right behind us. Right where we came from; why don't we go back over there?" I asked, wanting to go badly. Felix sniggered at my comment. The determined woman snorted.  
"Nice offer, Cass, but that's not the door I'm looking for. The door I'm looking for leads into the courtyard of this place."  
"Wait a second, Minxy. Why don't we just find the staircase? It'll be easier getting to the other building, right?" Felix offered. Their voices echoed off of the empty walls.   
"Fuck, you're right."  
"I know I am."  
"How much shit we gettin' here?" Cry piped from his silence. Felix answered his question for him.  
"A lotta shit. You'll see them when we find them. Trust me."  
If there was light, they would have seen me look unsure and anxious. Because that's exactly how I felt right now. Maybe it was just the building and the scary-movie aura it portrayed. I sucked in a breath, bracing for the worst. You have to be prepared for the worst. You have to.   
"Where is that staircase, Pewdie?" Minx asked.   
"It's hard to see without the flashlight."  
"Fine then." I'm assuming Minx handed Felix her flashlight.  
Pewds flashed the light everywhere, and suddenly, it landed on me, blinding me temporarily.  
"Ah, Jesus, Felix!" I scowled. I instinctively shut my eyes tight, seeing a bright red behind my eyelids. Suddenly, Felix sniggered once again.   
"Sorry guys," he giggled.  
"Dammit dude!" Cry said in annoyance. After blinking several times from the flash, the beam of light stayed up ahead. It burned every length of darkness in its path, illuminating objects like a broken chair or spilled oil.   
Instead of staying in its path as before, the light swung around and flashed in every dark area. As it shone everywhere, I saw bits and pieces of the group's bodies next to me. Minx, Cry, Felix. "Goddammit Pewdie, you're gonna make me blind."  
"Oops. Sorry Minx." It felt better to hear their conversations because it occupied my terrified mind. I tucked my brown strands behind my hair and sighed, wiping my face with my sort of grimy-sort of clean hands. It was easy getting used to inhaling the dust once you've walked in it for a while. Easy, but pretty dangerous. I sneezed. "Bless you."  
I liked the playfulness between everyone. They seemed like they didn't have a care in the world; as if there were no infected people wandering around and hungry for people. They acted like they didn't care, but they did. They seemed like they would be average people living normal lives and not prepared to fight, but in reality they could kick your ass- hard. They didn't always act like death was everywhere and they could die at any moment; they cherished every single happy moment in this hellish life. Even if they were normal, they were prepared no matter what.   
I don't know, it could be just me. Other people may tend to think of their choices as a waste of time.They'd probably think that they would die soon, and so easily. Maybe they think that they should be serious all the time and ponder every possibility of death. Being serious all the time, and not even trying to live the normal life you used to have; why live then? Why survive if you won't treasure these rare moments to be happy? That's how I've thought of this new world. "Found it," Felix said aloud, interrupting my thoughts.

I softly said, "Oh," unintentionally. His flashlight pointed at double doors that looked sealed shut. It had cloudy windows on it which totally complimented the hideous grimy appearance of the doors. He shined the light onto the doors' handles and pulled on them. As I suspected, it wouldn't open. Fuck. Felix tried again, clutching the handle and yanked it with all his strength. He grunted dramatically as well which I found myself smiling at. Minx decided she'd go and help, attempting to heave it open. It took a few seconds before I caved in and attempted to help. I wrapped my arms around Minx's waist and pulled too. The corner of my lips turned up in a happy smile because in all honesty, this was really fun. Before I knew it, arms wrapped around my waist and pulled. Cry finally joined the party. We all pulled with as much brawn as we could muster. So it was a total surprise when the door gave up and swung open from our monster strength. We all let out a short exclaim of shock and because of Felix, we fell down on each other. Minx knocked into me and I knocked into Cry. When the four of us lay on the ground, we burst into a choir of laughter.  
Felix's laugh was strange to hear because he sounded like he was gasping for breath between each laugh which made me laugh even harder than him. After that, we stood up and wiped the extreme amount of dust on our pants off. Finally, we faced the door that led upstairs to somewhere where Felix and Minx wanted to get abandoned items. It was a dark stairwell- no surprise, full of cobwebs and all. I had a feeling that the doors we opened would now be stuck in the new position. Felix, then Minx, then me, then Cry stomped up the metal stairs. Each of our steps boomed and bounced on the walls. There was another staircase, so we marched up that as well. A few more heavy staircases later and we reached a platform with just two double doors. It was open just ajar. This time, I went and wrapped my fingers around the metal door and attempted to pry it open. After a minute of pulling and grunting hard, I gave up. Felix offered to try to open it, and he too had a hard time for a few minutes. With one harsh pull, he heaved it open, and jumped back from the startling boom against the door.  
"Alrighty," he enthusiastically said. He shone the flashlight at us, temporarily blinding me. "Sorry, just making sure you guys are here." Without any response, Felix turned around and peeked into the door, shining his flashlight through. I couldn't see what was inside since his body covered the scene. Someone walked up next to him trying to peek through. When the shadow's hand touched his shoulder, Felix screamed and nearly fell, dropping his flashlight. At the sound of his shout, I burst into a fit of laughter along with Minx and Cry. Michelle.   
"Jesus fuck, Cry!" he hissed, shining his light at the masked man. Cry giggled even more.  
"What!? I'm sorry! I wanted to see, too!" he laughed again.  
"Fuck it, let's just go," Felix huffed, a hint of happiness visible in his tone. Michelle's laugh faded, and Felix went through first. I jumped when Michelle's hand poked me.  
"Oops, sorry," she whispered. After Cry and Felix went in, her footsteps came after them. I entered last and went in fast because I was alone for a split second. There was a faint light ahead of us, and instantly all of us knew that that was the place we were aiming to go to.  
"Come on!" Felix told us, clicking his flashlight off. He walked across the room, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise. As he exclaimed there was a sound of metal scraping on metal, and it clattered onto the ground. "Felix what happened?" I worriedly shouted out, my voice bouncing off of the warehouse walls.  
"There's chairs here."  
"You tripped over a fucking chair?" Michelle scoffed.  
"It was dark!"  
"That's why you have a flashlight," I told him, grinning. The three of us walked to Felix, who clicked on the flashlight. He slowly rose up from the ground and pointed at the small student chair that was laying on the ground  
"Uh-huh," Cry said. "Your point?"  
"Huh? That chair tripped me."  
"Yeah yeah, let's go; I'm sure our shit is in the other building."  
So we hurried to the doorless area, Felix also kicking the chair once more. We piled into the brightness, and instead of facing another empty room, we were greeted with cold air and blowing wind. "Hm," I said. I looked ahead and saw a long bridge connecting to another large building. I brought myself to the rails of the platform and leaned over. At the sight, I almost through up the sandwich I had. Multiple monsters roaming about, all infected and growing with fungi. Disease spreading in them. They've already lost their sanity. They're waiting to tear us apart and eat us. I swallowed and Minx's hand patted my shoulder. She pulled me back.  
"Ah, sorry Cassandra," she murmured.  
"Oh fuck," Cry whispered.   
"It's a good thing we didn't choose your way, huh, Minx?" Felix perked, laughing nervously. "Seriously, look at them."

I gulped again and stared at my feet for a while. I'm okay. I'm okay. We looked at the rusty bridge across. The paint on the metal was peeling. The swede spoke up first and announced that he'd try the bridge out first. I grew scared for his safety. When he put his first foot onto the bridge, I jolted visibly. “It’s safe,” Felix shouted, walking easily toward the other side. He did it without flinching but I swear I saw the bridge creak about a millimeter. Michelle quickly sprinted across. Her feet slammed against the floor. I cringed at her recklessness. All I had to do, was cross a bridge and we could get whatever the hell Felix was trying to get.

I wish I could just picture a hundred different things below the bridge. A unicorn, maybe. Or maybe some ducklings. Like tiny, mythical little surfs or talking mushrooms. I don’t know. I'm not good with naming many magical creatures.

Yeah . . . Then my only risk would be injuring myself if the bridge broke.

 But that was fantasy. This was reality. I swallowed uneasily, looking down at the ground where clueless blue-bloods were. There weren’t many, but still, that bunch could easily kill me. Their faces were bizarre, angry. They ran quickly around the fenced area, sniffing the air and letting out famished screeches.

 

“Here goes nothing . . .” I said, swallowing a large lump in my throat. I kept looking down at the ground beneath the bridge, at the heads of the diseased, nervous.

“Don’t look down.”

 

I kept walking and walking, until there was a noise.

 

A creaky, groaning, mechanical noise. Confused, I looked behind me. Cry looked just as confused as me until I heard Michelle shriek.

 

“Cassy, Cry, run!”

 

Before I could even comprehend what she said, I took another step, which caused the bridge to squeak more and-

 

The bridge snapped, I guess you could say. The entire other half was crumbling to the ground with the slice of a clanking noise ringing in my ears. It was loud. The bridge beneath me also collapsed. I widened my eyes, gravity beneath my feet.

 

For some reason, I grabbed the rusty railings of the bridge, squeezing them into my palms as if that would give me any protection. The gravel came in contact with my body, and I let out a loud, pained sound. The sharp, tiny stones dug into my skin, pricking me. It hurt. But it was nothing compared to the immense pain in my legs and head. This was a stupid idea.

 

 Blood. There was blood around me, beneath my legs. “My damn . . . leg,” I moaned in pain, squeezing my eyes tight. There were sounds of the angry breathing and growling getting closer.

 

The noises were cut off by a loud noise. Boom. The sound of the gun hurt my head. I winced badly at it. The whole world was spinning around me. It hurt even more when I rested it on the cold, rusty bridge. I kept wheezing.

 

“Cassandra! Are you okay?” Felix’s voice hurt my head even more. When I squinted my eyes, he was kneeling next to me, but his face was spinning. It made me feel nauseous.

 

“Does it look like it, you idiot?” I managed to say. I even felt a little shocked at me calling him an idiot. Cassandra! Are you crazy? He's trying to save you! No need for insults you fucking dumbass. Every little move I did hurt me even more then it should. 

“Pewdie, get out of there!” Michelle yelled. God. The yelling. It hurts so much. 

 

“No way, I’m not-“ Felix started. He looked upward.

 

“There’s no damn time!” Michelle screamed at him. "Cassandra! I'm so sorry!" I wanted to shove cotton balls in my ears because of how loud everyone was being.

 

“Get the fuck out of here,” I wheezed at him. For some reason, Felix looked slightly taken aback by my sentence. Slightly hurt, I guess. He looked pained in his eyes, and his mouth was twitching a lot.

 

Oh yeah, I never swore at anyone. Well, not that often, anyway. 

“—Not gonna make it,” I whispered. “Get out. Now.” Felix bit his lip, looking extremely unsure. He blinked a few times

 

“Behind you!” Ouch. Why the fuck is everyone so loud?   
Felix quickly spun around and kicked the thing away from him. He let out a short, terrified shriek before kicking it away again. It kept sprinting back at him. Somehow, I fluttered my eyelids closed, the only sounds of things shooting and footsteps receding away from me. There were more gunshot noises cutting through the air. "Just get out. You'll die. You have a girlfriend. If you die and she has no one . . ." I stopped. He looked at me with the most hurt and apologetic expression. He just looked so . . . devastated at the thought of leaving me. 

“Goodbye . . .  Cassy,” the voice of Felix said. That was the last thing I heard before the footsteps trailed away from me. The gnarly sounds were still ringing in my ears. They gave me a headache. When he left did I realize what I've done. I gasped, and tears sprang up from my eyes. They poured out because of me. Poured because I'm hurting everywhere, and because I'm alone, and because I will die from being mauled to death by a blue blood. I didn't stop crying, because it helped me to close my eyes and not look around me at the horror. I wanted to scream and scream and scream for days until my throat hurt. I kept wanting to scream until my throat was ripped raw and I sounded hoarse. Even if it hurt while I screamed. Nothing would hurt more than the feeling of my bones feeling like they shattered or the pure pain that I wouldn't die old with Marzia, Ken, Felix, Cry, Valeria, and Michelle.

I heard sounds of a loud whack. It was a sickening whack, like cracking open a skull. I tried moving, but my arm twitched and I only hurt more. I suddenly realized how alone I was. The groans and screams of the diseased were gone. It was my own fault, but it was good to make Felix leave me behind. Or else he would've gotten himself killed. Him being killed and Marzia having to find out that news would break my heart more than it broke Marzia's. Well, not really. I clenched my own teeth as if that would relieve the horrible pain I felt. My ankle felt like they were being torn apart.  My back felt like someone jabbed a knife in it. Same goes for my head.

 

“Christ,” someone murmured. There were so many dots in my peripheral vision. Pink, purple, yellow. They clouded my vision. Hands slid under my legs and back and immediately, I let out a small cry of pain when my injury was touched. Who the fuck was this? 

"Shit."

 

Whoever it was, they adjusted their arm positions on my body and moved when I didn't shout in pain. Nothing was heard now except the sounds of heavy breathing and wind blowing in the air. Suddenly, I was being lifted bridal-style, and was being carried toward somewhere. 


	9. Chapter 9

_"Aw man. Your legs are bleeding. We'll fix that up. Hopefully. Damn. They'll be proud of me if I actually patch you up."_

_". . . Why am I talking to myself?"_

♦ ♦ ♦   
  
I shot up from my bed in cold sweat, breathing hard. For some reason, I made a weird choked up sound from surprise and relief. Whatever time it was, it was early. The sun wasn't that high up in the sky. I had realized that I was in the tent I was in when I first came here and realized that this would be my own tent. It was dirty and tattered and the only few things in here was a mattress, a blanket, a bloody dagger, and empty space on the other half of the tent. 

My back was killing me. Slowly, I got up and walked to the exit of my tent. No one seemed to be awake, for now at least. Suddenly, I remembered the dream I had. 

First of all, why the hell was I dreaming of that? All I remember is that it was strangely vivid. It felt like I really was in pain and I couldn't describe it. I visibly shuddered and shook my head. 

I hugged the hoodie I was given, trying to make myself warmer.

Out of nowhere, I heard static noises, but at the same time, crackling or robotic voices or something. I turned around, trying to find the noise and raised my eyebrow.  _What is that?_  
There were sounds of movement in a tent and I realized that it was Felix's tent. Curious, I strolled over to his tent but stopped when I heard him begin to speak.

"Wha- Minx?" he grumbled. His voice was obviously tired. There was another voice, filled with static, though.

 _"I need help,"_ the static-y voice said loudly. Was Felix using a walkie-talkie? If so, where did he even get one?

"What do you mean?" Felix perked up.

" _Like I fuckin' need help. You need to hurry, there's-"_ a strange banging and screeching noise came from the other end of the walkie-talkie. " _Jesus Christ . . . You know where I went! Bring some people! I'm trapped in whatever this dark room is. The door could break. I think I twisted my ankle really bad."_

 _"_ What?! Hang in there, Minx. I'm coming," Felix said in a panic. The ruffle of clothes were heard. I heard Marzia, too, her voice sleepy.  
"Felix, where are you going?" she mumbled.

"Go back to sleep," he said, a snicker on the end of his sentence. I backed up from the tent, knowing that he might run out and see me. I turned around, just so that when he came out, he would see me not paying any mind.

A loud zip was heard, then footsteps. "Cassandra?"

I turned around. "Felix, hey."

There was definitely a walkie-talkie firmly gripped in his hands. He held a gun in his hands as well. "Um. What are you doing?" he asked, casually.  
"I just woke up," I lied, shrugging my shoulders. He tapped his foot impatiently and heaved a sigh.  
"Actually, can you come with me? Bring any weapon you have." While holding the walkie, he scratched his head.  
_Why me?_

"I'm not going there alone. I need Ken to protect Marzia and Valeria, but I also need your smarts. Also, I need Cry for company and backup."  _Oops, I didn't mean to say that out loud._  I reddened a bit, smiling sheepishly and turning my head away.  
"Knulla," he muttered. I looked over my shoulder to glance at him again, then went back to my tent, grabbing the silver dagger. I came back to the spot I was just in. He was walking over to another tent this time, most likely going to talk to Ken to inform him to watch over the camp while we're gone.

Ken came out of the entrance, a little sleepy looking, but otherwise prepared.  
"You need to stay here," Felix said. "In case something happens, protect Marzia and Valeria. The southern man lazily nodded.   
"Got it, bro," he said. I saw his shiny eyes slowly glance over at me. I waved, and he smiled, like he was happy for me going on this pretty insane quest.

Then, Felix got Cry, him looking painfully tired. As soon as the pair came over to me, Felix handed me a backpack as well as tossing one over to Cry.  
"What are these for?" he asked in a sleepy voice. Felix narrowed his eyes, looking straight into the empty space of the forest.

"Don't ask, just follow me," he said seriously.

* * *

I don't know how long we've been walking, but my feet are killing me. It was painfully quiet.

"Minx? Can you hear me?" Felix said, cutting the silence like a sharp knife I looked over at him, and so did Cry.  
Nothing but crackling static came out of the speakers. Finally, there was a human voice on the other end. "Yeah," that same strong british voice replied. Felix sighed.

 

" _Yes_ ," the static-y voice on the other end said, breathless. " _Oh man, you better hurry. They're all around and-"_ another set of banging and snarling.  _"Oh shit!"_  
Felix parted his lips as if he was just about to speak. He raised his eyebrows, then looked forward at the sight. It was a fairly normal sized building. Not skyscraper like or anything like that. Tangled vines grew all over the place.

A sign was not far from it.

_Rest Stop_

I scoffed a little. There was blood smeared on the sign. "Follow me," Felix simply said, jogging toward the entrance. I hurried after him. He peeked in the glass. The hallway inside was dimly lit, broken lights flashing. 

"This is like your average cliche horror movie scene," Cry said out loud, examining the outside of the center. I let out a short laugh. Felix did too.  
"That's so true though," he commented, pushing onto the door. He spoke again into the walkie.  
"Did you go into the front door?" the swedish asked, putting one hand against the rusty metal. Nothing but static and heart-attack inducing groans came from the other end. "Minx?"

" _Shut up,"_ she whispered. " _Yes."_  Felix glanced at us, then put his hand on the handle and slowly opened the door. It opened with a creak. Felix stepped in, wavering his gun around as he did so.  
Cry stepped in afterward, me last. I didn't close the door in case we had to escape. There was nothing but eerie silence in here. I could see in front of us a male bathroom and a female bathroom with a water fountain in between the two rooms.

 _"Wait! Watch out for traps! It's how I twisted my ankle!"_ she hurriedly said. Before Felix could utter another word, his foot caught something, and there was an ear-piercing sound of rattling cans that made your face drain of blood.  
I heard a click and turned around when I saw that Felix just had a flashlight and held it with his walkie. Dust was swimming around wherever the light shone. Suddenly, the door behind us closed.  
I instantly spun around, clamping my hands around the door handle and pulling with all my might before realizing that this was hopelessly locked.   
"Why the fuck are there traps here!?"  
" _This may have been used as an old base for something and they set it off with booby traps to ward off humans. I'm not entirely sure, I've read about it when I studied to become a soldier."_  
"Cassandra?" Felix murmured. I looked at him, wondering what he was wanting in a dire time such as this. "This door is locked. Do you know how many exits a building usually has?"

As soon as amplified groans began speeding and bouncing from the walls, I swallowed, staring wide-eyed at the ground as I fearfully answered the blonde's question. "A-At least two, but in a building as large as this, there must be way more."  
"Well then," he said, suddenly serious. "Let's go." We ran toward the growling sounds of the diseased, hopefully that's where Michelle was. What I saw made me want to throw up.  
More than I could handle. More blue bloods were building up in the food courts and bloody tables. They all looked so grotesque and the smell made me gag.

" _Pewds!? I can hear the infected. Don't do anything stupid or you're going to die,"_ Michelle gulped into the speaker. 

"Oh shit," Cry spoke up, clenching his fists. "How are we gonna get through there?!" We suddenly saw the mess of diseased appearing toward our direction, approaching the noise of the rattling cans  
A crowd of sick people were surrounding the end of the hallway, possibly the door that Michelle said she was stuck in, and coming from one end of the hallway. Felix looked at me, a determined look over his face. "Do you have good aim?" he asked. I was taken slightly aback.

"A-Aim?" I asked, embarrassed to answer.

He shook his head, swung off his backpack and shoved the walkie in there. "Nevermind." He shrugged it back on, holding up his gun. I could see him breathing heavily. "Cry, come on. Cassandra, if they get too close, stab them in the brain."  
I froze, that scene when we were hunting replaying in my head. I hesitantly nodded. My heart was pounding against my ribcage and my nerves were going crazy. Why the hell was I stupid enough to come here!? Felix could have easily come here by himself, maybe with Cry. I don't know.

I swallowed, squeezing my eyes shut. My legs were wobbling and I couldn't move. I felt like falling.   
A piercing gunshot rang through my ears and I could see fire burst from Felix's gun every time he shot. Screaming noises stabbed my ears too. Some were running toward us, some were just turning around to look at us and tear our flesh apart. Another gunshot came. I saw Cry holding a pistol as well, his bullet piercing every one of those in the dark corridor. I was here being useless, not knowing what to do. As more began running at us, I widened my eyes at how many there were. 

A clicking noise came from Felix's gun. "Jävla skit," he yelled. He glanced at Cry, then hurried to take his bag off. He rummaged through it, tossing away useless stuff like random shreds of paper. One of the photos in particular were tossed into the air. He tossed it so carelessly at the screaming creatures. I widened my eyes when I realized that it was the picture of him and Marzia and the dogs. My breath hitched in my throat.

"Felix!" I screamed, watching as I desperately tried to run for the picture, it slipping from my grasp. I saw it float into the crowd. Suddenly, I was harshly pulled back by my shirt. I fell onto the ground with a hard thud, my back hurting.

Cry released his hold, looking at me with sympathy before shooting away. "I'm sorr-" I could barely hear him with the loud screaming and growling. "Cassandra I'm so sorr-" His jaw clenched.   
Felix was busy reloading and grabbing bullets from the bag. He dropped a few. I hurried to my feet.

"Your picture, Felix," I shouted at him. He shrugged on his backpack.  
"What are you talking about!?" he shouted back, already shooting the infected. 

I tightly held my dagger. "The one with you and Marzia and your dogs!" I shouted. He looked genuinely shocked.

"W-What?"

"There's an opening!" Cry said. "Go through there! I'll hold them off."

"The fuck? No! You're coming with us," Felix yelled, glaring daggers at the masked man. I saw a faint smile on his lips.  
"I'll be fine! I promise you that. When you save Minx, I'll be out front waiting. Go on, Poods!" he exclaimed, pumping one fist in the air. Felix shot him a black look again.

"You dumbass. I save your life and you risk it just to die," Felix joked. How the hell can he joke when we are in a fucking life and death situation. I felt my body shake in fear. Felix looked at me. "Come on."

Cry shouted. "I'll see you guys."

Felix ignored him as we rushed together through the crowd. He gripped my sleeve to make sure I was still near him. Way behind me, I could hear an empty click of a gun.

"Oh fuck," Cry said. I looked behind me, him tossing the gun away as he got in a stance. My eyes widened. He's dead already. The growling sounds were even louder. I did my best to ram the blade of my dagger into their heads. Felix was skilled using his one arm and shooting them in the head. They fell back, blood splattering their friends. I could hear them shrieking loudly from the pain if Felix missed. The opening was clear. It lead to a heavy door that many of the diseased had strayed from. We sprinted there.

  
I tried the handle and was filled with relief when it wasn't locked. Looking back, I saw the hint of a picture on the floor, smeared with blood. I widened my eyes, gulping, eager to retrieve it, but I knew that was the most stupidest idea ever. Their feet stepped over it. I turned the handle, Felix's gun piercing the brains of the infected. Hurriedly, I opened the door and ran inside, the blonde man following right after me. He slammed the door shut.

We breathed heavily. I let out a short laugh, relieved that I was alive. It was unbelievable. Cry decided to save his best friend and a person he didn't know too well. I sunk to my knees, heaving in breaths. It was a matter of time before the man's agonizing screams of pain echoed through the building. I was breathing hard and my heart was beating even faster then before.  
"Oh my God!" Minx yelled. Suddenly, before I could even find her face, I felt her pale, smooth arm wrap around my neck. I felt Felix's arm touch mine. She was hugging us both. Really. Really. Tightly.  
I. Can't. Really. Breathe-

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized, releasing us and cackling like crazy. I heard the moans and screams of those infected muffled by the door separating us.   
"Minx, I'm so glad to see you," Felix said in a delighted tone, after taking in a huge breath. "But we really need to go before we die here." He shined his light down at her feet. She was standing on one foot while lifting her hurt one in the air.  
Letting her playful mood falter, she nodded robot-like, and gave us a stern expression. "However, we have quite some problems," I piped up, capturing the two's attention. "The front door is locked. Blue bloods are surrounding all the possible entries and exits besides that front door. So, we are stuck in this room." As I said that, it occurred to me that I would die here, and my face drained from color.  
Michelle seemed to see that in me, and suddenly, her hands shook my shoulders. "Hey, it's okay! We won't die!" Felix clicked his teeth, then pressed his back against the wall.  
I looked at his blue eyes, searching for something like hope. He flashed his light around the dark room. "Fuck yeah," he happily said. I beamed with relief.  
"What is it!?" Minx asked.  
Following the light up to the ceiling, I saw two words that brought me more joy than I've ever experienced in my life.  
_Emergency Exit._

"There's a ladder here," Michelle said. "I crashed into it when I found this room." Without further ado, I heard the clanking of metal meeting concrete and saw as Felix shined his light over Minx so she would be able to pinpoint the area where we need the ladder. 

I heard banging on the door. "I don't think that door is going to last anymore, so hurry the fuck up!" Felix pressured. Michelle worked faster and propped the ladder up in its proper place.  
"Minxy go first!" Felix shouted, then flung himself at the door to try to hold it tight. He continued to flash his light at the ladder so we could see as she climbed up each rung. However, she was painfully slow because she needed to properly place each foot. Each time, there was another "knock" at the door. I went next after the woman pushed the hatch open and the blue, cold morning sky greeted us with a kiss of blowing air. I climbed up those steps like each rung contained bits of my lifespan. I heard Felix scream, and almost thought he was done for, until he popped up the steps like it was his job. We all relaxed onto the rooftop of the high building and peered down into the room that was blooming with blue bloods.

For a while, we grinned, spread out on the cold roof as Minx winced at her aching ankle. "We did it," I breathed. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Ohhhhh my God."  
Felix laughed. "Get used to it, Cassy. Death is an everyday experience in this world." I closed my eyes as Michelle laughed.

"It's true. But we still try to keep our humor, even if we have to be serious sometimes."  
I flung open my eyes, but still didn't move.  After a short moment of silence, Felix slowly rose up and told Minx that he'd dress her sprained ankle as neatly he could.

"Damn, it's swollen."

 

"I'm so glad you two rescued me. God, I would've been done for," Minx sighed.

"Uh," Felix said, nervously as wrapped the dressings around her purple colored foot. "Well, you see, Cry came with us but uh . . ."  
Michelle sat up, suddenly with a surprised expression. "Cry . . .? Where is he!?"  
Felix fumbled with his thumbs, finishing up, and a distressed expression painted his face. "Åh jävla helvete," he groaned miserably, like that little question broke him apart. "He was with us . . . then he stayed behind."

 

Minx' face melted into a look of horror. "He was killing them to let us get through."  
The lady sat up, and we did right after her, just to study her face in case she spilled a bucket of tears. But her facial expression was blank. Emotionless. Undetectable. Felix reached his arm out, just to comfort her in some weird way.  
"I think we should leave now," she said in a barely audible tone. I nodded, looking back at Felix as his eyes were glassy with tears.   
"So, that's just it," I heard him murmur under his breath. "Taken and gone." And as the two silently and as discreetly as they could, mourned his death, I awkwardly apologized, since I had not known him well enough to be so caring of him. It feels wrong, but it is how my emotions were. That is, until I heard the banging of fists against metal.   
We all froze, eyes latching onto the hatch that was producing a pounding sound. "Please don't tell me that blue bloods learned to climb," Minx moaned. I crawled over, quickly as I could and wrenched open the hatch until suddenly, I was face to face with a certain, bloody, black haired, red-faced man, who clambered onto me for safety.  
It was quite a shock when he instantly held onto me as soon as he was let out, holding on for dear life.  
In a split second, that felt like millions of hours, he unwrapped his arms as fast as a cheetah and sat back on his heels as he stared at me, wide eyed. I stared back, even more wide-eyed because his mask, his white skin, his whole body, drenched in awful blood. He scampered back some more, smiling sheepishly upon just grabbing me and shut the hatch shut as he was at it.  
Behind me, Minx and Felix laughed, until with realization, found out who the man was that was now apologizing profusely that he had just grabbed me.   
The two saw him, jaws dropped, and suddenly, without warning, let their tears fly out of their eyes as they ran over to him. Minx however, limped to him. The two laughed and engulfed him in a warm hug, instantly recoiling after blood stained their clothes.

"Ewwww," Felix complained, looking back up at his buddy.  
"You look and smell like shit," Michelle groaned, gasping for breath as well. He pressed his lips together, gripping his backpack close to his chest.  
"I know," he said. I stared at him. How the hell could he have survived? He was literally soaked in it. Every time he took a step, I could see the footsteps leave a bloody print on the flat roof. His mouth kept twitching.

"Holy shit," Felix said, his blonde hair waving in the wind. Cry grinned, crossing his arms and looked down at the ground momentarily before looking back up.

"How did you even get out of there?" Felix asked, the questions on all of our minds. He looked so surprised. His eyes looked as if they would spring out of his head and his blonde strands stuck to his forehead with blood. The man had his lips pressed tightly together.

"I-I don't remember," he simply replied. His voice began to sound hoarse. He lifted his bloody hand and scratched the back of his head. "I killed them though."

Felix stood there, his face blank now, void of any expression. Michelle cut in with her cheery voice. "Well, that's not what matters, hm? What about that he saved our lives!" the elated woman exclaimed. She looked over at Cry. "I say we go back to camp and eat all of this candy that I found!" She gave a close-eyed smile to all of us. I rolled my eyes.  
"What!? You found fucking candy but you didn't tell us!?" Felix hollered. His eyebrows creased in feigned unhappiness. Michelle laughed, then gave a smug grin.

Felix let out a small chuckle in return. "Come on now. It's a long way back." She turned around, the back of her head filled with tangled brown and purple strands. With that, she placed her own weapon in her back pocket of her black jeans.  
I looked down at my wrists and hands. They were smeared with blood as well and I noticed some rotting flesh that somehow flew onto my skin. I cringed visibly and let out a feeble shriek, quickly wiping the dead flesh off of my wrists. "Are you okay?" Felix laughed, looking at me quizzically.

I didn't reply. My hands were very bloody, probably after stabbing some of those things in the head. I looked up at Felix. He was also blood covered. His forehead was splattered with blood. It was not as bad as Cry. I shrugged my backpack, feeling it slip from my shoulders. I felt slightly horrified from the incident, needing to embed it in the back of my head like the other hunting incident. The four of us attempted to find a way off of the roof safely that didn't result in Michelle getting more injured.  
I wiped my forehead and sighed in relief. That was terrifying as hell. I looked downward, following the scuffing of footsteps. What time was it? How long have we been there? It seemed so fast.  
I sped up my walking to walk next to him. "Hey um . . ." I started. He turned his head to look at me. "Did you . . . by any chance, happen to save a picture?" I inquired. He just stared at me, a look of confusion.   
"No," he said. "It was all bloody when I left . . . " he muttered, seeming to say that sentence to himself. I simply nodded and forced a smile, still terrified of what I experienced.

Though, something was bothering me. It was just so . . . so . . .

. . . peculiar.

And I wondered  _how_  it was possible when it should have been very impossible. 

How did Cry manage to kill the diseased without anything but his bare hands?

I looked at his bloody hoodie.


	10. A Short Thanks

When Ken took me down to that stream, I was utterly terrified. Mostly because I remember that  _incident_ with the creatures running toward us, almost murdering me. Though, it was eerily quiet other than the white water sounds. I looked unsurely at Ken, his face calm but serious at the same time.  
  
"Hey, I'm just showing you the jobs, then we'll see what you're best at, alright?" he murmured, taking hold of his bow and arrow. I shrugged, looking back at the crashing water. He approached the rapids, then glancing over his shoulder at me with a look that said, "Are you coming or what?". I silently said, "yes" and came over, watching his moves carefully.  
  
"Okay, watch me," he said, looking down into the water. His face held nervousness as he began to dip his feet in. "Phew, okay, okay, you can do this," he whispered to himself. Ken put his feet in one at a time, wincing as he did so. The coldness made the sound of his teeth chatter. I smirked at the sight but the words he said next made the smirk disappear from my mouth.  
  
"Your turn."  
  
"What?" I asked, wide-eyed.  
  
He gestured to the crashing water. "Put your feet in the water!" Ken rolled his eyes. I gulped, staring. I can already feel the numbing coldness of the water. It's waves numbing my skin and bones. Taking a deep breath, I let my toes touch the frigid water. The water sliced my skin with the cold. Then, I let out a shaky breath when I quickly splashed my legs into the river. I winced loudly. Ken stood up and I did as well.  
  
"Good," he snickered. Then he stared at the water, watching something in there. "Okay, now, fishes are a tough thing to catch so-" He pointed his arrow at whatever was swimming under the surface. His arrow followed the swimming shadow. Finally, he released it and it embedded itself into the stone under the water.  
  
"See? They're fast, so you'll probably suck your first time," Ken said, pulling the arrow out of the ground. I pressed my lips together, looking at the more swimming shadows. He hesitantly handed me the bow and an arrow. "Well, try shooting at that rock," Ken said, pointing to a nearby, giant stone. I followed and pointed the bow at the rock, taking a deep breath before releasing.  
  
The arrow missed, landing on the dirt next to it. Ken looked at me, taking the bow from my hands. "Alright, now try at the fish. Probably gonna be hard," he said. I did so again, pointing at the moving creature.  
  
My hands pulled on the arrow.   
  
When I pulled back, the arrow landed in the stone.   
  
I groaned.  
  
We spent a long, long, long time trying to get me to hunt, doing different stuff. How to catch this, how to catch that, whatever. Finally, I caught my first fish which I was actually really proud of.  
  
"Yes!" I exclaimed, grabbing onto the end of the flipping fish.  
  
"Hurry, hurry! Put it in here!" Ken said, opening his backpack which smelt awful. I did so, and Ken smiled. "Good job, Cassy."  
  
We looked at the water before heading back. As we walked along the trail, I asked a question that had been bugging me.  
"Who's Cry?" I blurted out loud, silently swearing at myself. Ken just gave me a small look before responding.  
  
"A friend. He's kind of quiet," Ken replied. I nodded. We kept walking and walking to the camp until we finally reached it and I sighed happily. I ran around, finding a tree and sat down as Ken went to go back and do something useful with the new fish.  
  
  
  
I stared at my new friends gathering together and working. They were also warming up against the hot flames, letting their bodies soak in the warmth. It looked so nice right now. I just wore a long sleeved shirt, black. I still kept that patient jacket, only because it was warm.   
  
But my face was freezing. When I put my fingertips to my cheek, it felt like touching icicles. I put my arm away, sighing. Felix was walking around, but also using something to sharpen the blade of his knife. Ken was carving something into his bow, the bag of arrows on the ground. The sharp arrows pointed toward the fire. The fire glowed onto Ken's back.  
  
I sat under the nearest tree to the camp, looking upward at the branches. They shook from the force of that wind. I was almost afraid it might topple down on me, cutting me. I glided my fingertips down the coldness of the bark, shivering a bit. The crisp air kept punching me. It was almost,  _almost_ , unbearable.  
  
Suddenly, a strange sound hummed above me. Repeated punching, pecking? I don't know what to call it. It was peculiar. I looked up, the branches hiding the source of the sound. Instantaneously, I stood up and craned my neck to look above me. The few hanging leaves crumbled down to the grass. I hurried around the tree, attempting to see the creature above me. When I got a better view, I saw a small bird, its wings flapping repeatedly as well as its head when its beak kept pecking into the wood. The tiny bird had a red neck and a black head.  
  
A ruby-throated humming bird.  
  
"That's a ruby throated humming bird," a low, raspy voice said behind me. I yelped in surprise, turning around and saw that guy with black, raven hair and his porcelain mask. He stood still, his lips in a straight line. He was wearing a rather thin hoodie.  
  
"I know," I replied with the same tone. He approached me in a way as if he was unsure. He coughed into his sleeve, standing apart from me. I put my hands on my hips, observing.  
  
"They're really pretty, don'tcha think?" I said with a slight laugh at the end. He slowly nodded his head.  
  
"Yeah," he agreed, crossing his arms and staring upward at the fluttering bird. He coughed into his arm again, closing his eyes. I looked down at the ground once the hummingbird drilling into the wood got unbearably boring. Another sigh made me look up next to the guy on my side.  
  
  
"U-Uh . . . I-" he stammered, ruffling the hair on the back of his head.  
  
"Um. Thank you?" he said, finally glancing up at me with an awkward look. "T-Thanks for, y'know, alerting Minx- I mean Michelle, you don't know her YouTube-- but thank y-you," he sputtered before looking away and coughing into his arm. I nodded.  
  
"Don't mention it," I said.  
  
"Oh-Okay, y-yeah," he muttered. His face became red, like he was embarrassed. The boy then put on his hood, walking to the tree. "Ugh, I'm not good at 'thank you's', " I heard him hiss before I left.  
  
* * *  
  
**This was like a filler chapter I'm so sorry it sucked.**

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, please leave kudos or a positive comment!  
> If you didn't, you can leave your comment as well, just no downright INSULTING!


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